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,4* 


Frantisek 


Kupka 

A    1871-1957 


A  RETROSPECTIVE 


This  project  is  supported  by  a  grant  from  the  National 
Endowment  for  the  Arts,  Washington,  D.C.,  a  Federal  Agency 

The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York 


Published  by  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation,  New  York,  1975 
Library  of  Congress  Card  Catalogue  Number:  75-27339 
©  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation,  1975 
Printed  in  the  United  States 


The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation 


president  Peter  O.  Lawson-Johnston 


trustees  H.  H.  Arnason,  Eleanor  Countess  Castle  Stewart,  Joseph  W.  Donner, 

Mason  Welch  Gross,  Eugene  W.  Leake,  Frank  R.  Milliken,  Henry  Allen  Moe, 
A.  Chauncey  Newlin,  Mrs.  Henry  Obre,  Daniel  Catton  Rich,  Albert  E. 
Thiele,  Michael  F.  Wettach. 


The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum 

director  Thomas  M.  Messer 

staff  Henry  Berg,  Deputy  Director 

Linda  Konheim,  Program  Administrator;  Agnes  R.  Connolly,  Auditor;  Susan 
L.  Halper,  Administrative  Assistant;  Eric  Siegeltuch,  Assistant  for  Management; 
Vanessa  Jalet,  Secretary  to  the  Director;  Darrie  Hammer,  Information. 

Louise  Averill  Svendsen,  Curator;  Diane  Waldman,  Curator  of  Exhibitions;  Margit 
Rowell,  Curator  of  Special  Exhibitions;  Angelica  Zander  Rudenstine,  Research  Curator; 
Linda  Shearer,  Assistant  Curator;  Carol  Fuerstein,  Editor;  Mary  Joan  Hall,  Librarian; 
Ward  Jackson,  Archivist;  Karen  Lee,  Coordinator. 

Mimi  Poser,  Acting  Public  Affairs  Officer;  Miriam  Emden,  Members'  Representative; 
Carolyn  Porcelli,  Coordinator. 

Orrin  Riley,  Conservator;  Lucy  Belloli,  Assistant  Conservator;  David  Roger  Anthony, 
Registrar;  Elizabeth  M.  Funghini,  Cherie  A.  Summers,  Assistant  Registrars;  Saul  Fuerstein, 
Preparator;  Robert  E.  Mates,  Photographer;  Dana  Cranmer,  Technical  Manager. 

Peter  G.  Loggin,  Building  Superintendent;  Guy  Fletcher,  Jr.,  Assistant  Building 
Superintendent;  Charles  F.  Banach,  Head  Guard. 


.4 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


List  of  Lenders  to  the  Exhibition 

Preface  and  Acknowledgements  by  Thomas  M.  Messer 

Central  European  Influences  by  Meda  Mladek 

The  Search  for  Beautiful  Form  by  Meda  Mladek 

Metaphysical  Questions  by  Meda  Mladek 
Frantisek  Kupka:  A  Metaphysics  of  Abstraction  by  Margit  Rowell 
Catalogue  of  the  Exhibition  by  Margit  Rowell 
Chronology  by  Meda  Mladek  and  Margit  Rowell 
Selected  Exhibitions 
Selected  Bibliography 


8 
9 

13 

38 

42- 

47 

81 

305 

318 

32-3 


LENDERS  TO  THE  EXHIBITION 


Dr.  Altmayer,  Paris 

Lucy  Delmarle 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Solomon  Ethe 

Karl  Flinker 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller 

Gallien  Family 

Peter  Gimpel 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Gribin 

Wilhelm  Hack,  Cologne 

Joseph  H.  Hazen 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman 

McCrory  Corporation 

P.  P.,  Paris 

Camille  Renault,  Paris 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  G.  Ross 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnold  A.  Saltzman,  Great  Neck,  New  York 

Nancy  Schwartz 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  E.  S.,  New  York 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Randall  Shapiro 

Theodoros  Stamos 

Richard  S.  Zeisler,  New  York 

William  Zierler 

The  Cleveland  Museum  of  Art 

Los  Angeles  County  Museum  of  Art 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York 

Musee  National  d Art  Moderne,  Paris 

The  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York 

Museum  des  20.  Jahrhunderts,  Vienna 

Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

Philadelphia  Museum  of  Art 

The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York 

Louis  Carre  et  Cie 

Margit  Chanin,  Ltd. 

Royal  S.  Marks  Gallery,  New  York 

Stephen  Mazoh  &  Co.,  Inc. 

Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris,  New  York 

Spencer  A.  Samuels  and  Company,  Ltd. 


PREFACE  AND  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


Frantisek  Kupka  has  gained  a  secure  place  in  the  history  of  modern  paint- 
ing, for  he  was  among  those  very  few  authentic  innovators  who,  early  in  the 
second  decade  of  this  century,  dared  to  cross  the  threshold  which  at  the  time 
separated  representational  from  non-objective  painting.  Like  his  fellow 
Slavs,  Vasily  Kandinsky  and  Kasimir  Malevich,  or  the  Frenchmen  Robert 
Delaunay  and  Francis  Picabia  (Piet  Mondrian  and  the  Dutch  Neo-Plastic 
movement  came  somewhat  later),  Kupka  demonstrated  that  painting,  like 
music,  has  a  capacity  to  convey  its  meanings  entirely  through  formal  means. 
He  supported  this  radical  proposition  with  a  prolific  output  that,  again  like 
Kandinsky's,  ran  its  full  course  from  illustration  and  representation  through 
Fauvist  attenuations  and,  from  there,  to  organic  and  geometric  abstraction. 
The  creative  impulses  that  motivated  this  Czech-born  French  emigre,  the 
influences  that  may  have  shaped  his  style,  whether  derived  from  Eastern 
Slav,  Central  European  Czech  and  Austrian,  or  finally  from  French  sources, 
are  the  explicit  subject  matter  of  Kupka's  retrospective  exhibition  at  the 
Guggenheim  Museum  and  that  of  this  accompanying  catalogue.  Apart  from 
the  thought-provoking  sequences  and  the  supportive  documentation  that 
underlie  this  double-pronged  venture,  apart  indeed  from  Kupka's  well- 
founded  claim  to  having  originated  fundamental  stylistic  departures,  we  are 
confronted  in  the  current  show  with  close  to  200  paintings,  watercolors, 
drawings  and  graphics  of  compelling  visual  power  that  may  or  may  not 
coincide  with  moments  of  stylistic  innovation.  The  tenuous  and  complex 
relationship  between  the  new  and  the  vital  clearly  mirrored  in  this  show 
provides  Kupka's  oeuvre  with  its  particular  tension  and  significance.  It 
affords  to  the  viewer  an  often  merging,  sometimes  parallel,  twofold  avenue 
that  leads  toward  an  understanding  and  enjoyment  of  Kupka's  art. 


The  organization  of  the  current  retrospective  required  an  awareness  of 
Kupka's  composite  nationality  with  all  its  implications,  as  well  as  a  degree 
of  familiarity  with  Czech  and  French  sources,  circumstances  and  with  the 
location  of  works.  The  existing  literature  about  Kupka,  as  well  as  the  artist's 
own  writings  is  primarily  in  Czech  and  French,  while  the  German  and  Eng- 
lish bibliography,  except  for  translations,  remains  marginal.  Correspond- 
ingly, many  of  the  most  important  loans  were  secured  from  European 
sources— Czechoslovakia  and  France  above  all  — before  we  approached 
other  continental  countries  and  the  still  limited  group  of  American  lenders 
who  have  acquired  paintings  and  works  on  paper  of  primary  importance. 
On  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  the  response  of  museums,  collectors  and 
galleries  was  exemplary,  and  our  gratitude  toward  those  cited  in  this  cata- 
logue's list  of  lenders  (as  well  as  toward  others  who  have  chosen  to  remain 
anonymous)  is  correspondingly  great. 

The  Guggenheim's  deepest  indebtedness,  acknowledged  here  in  behalf  of 
the  large  public  for  whom  this  exhibition  is  created,  must  go  to  the  Narodnf 
Galerie  in  Prague  and  to  its  director,  Professor  Dr.  Jin  Kotalik.  The  com- 
prehensive survey  of  Frantisek  Kupka's  life  work  could  not  have  been  ar- 
ranged without  the  massive  loan  of  almost  thirty  works  from  this  particular 
source.  We  are  as  indebted  to  the  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne  in  Paris, 
the  other  largest  repository  of  Kupka's  oeuvre.  Without  the  generous  com- 
mitment of  Dominique  Bozo,  then  Acting  Director  of  the  Collections,  for  a 
loan  enacted  by  Pontus  Hulten  and  Germain  Viatte,  this  exhibition  could 
not  take  place. 

It  should  also  be  stressed  that  this  retrospective  could  be  selected  and 
presented  only  after  exhaustive  preparation  which  depended  upon  the  par- 
ticipation of  extraordinarily  talented  and  qualified  individuals  within  and 
outside  of  the  Guggenheim  Museum.  Neither  Margit  Rowell,  the  Guggen- 
heim's Curator  of  Special  Exhibitions,  nor  Meda  Mladek,  who  was  asked  to 
be  a  Consultant,  could  have  achieved  the  result  as  it  stands  without  the  com- 
plementary capacities  of  the  other.  Miss  Rowell,  as  curator  of  the  exhibi- 
tion, brought  to  the  task  of  selection  and  presentation  her  penetrating  and 
original  research  and  tested  knowledge  of  exhibitions  as  well  as  her  wide 
experience  with  technical  aspects  of  exhibition  and  catalogue  production. 
Mrs.  Mladek's  deep  involvement  with  Kupka's  entire  oeuvre,  one  that  goes 
back  to  the  artist's  lifetime,  her  rich  store  of  painstakingly  gathered  infor- 
mation, and  her  command  of  the  Czech  language  were  an  extremely  impor- 
tant factor  in  the  successful  completion  of  both  catalogue  and  exhibition. 
Miss  Rowell  and  Mrs.  Mladek  have  also  made  valuable  contributions  in 
their  respective  and  highly  personal  essays. 

Throughout  the  preparatory  phase,  other  Kupka  specialists,  aware  of 
crucial  art  historical  issues  that  still  surround  his  problematical  art,  joined 
in  an  extended  de  facto  symposium  thereby  adding  new  information.  Kupka 
experts  who  have  provided  us  with  extraordinary  assistance  are  Denise 
Fedit  and  Ludmila  Vachtova.  The  scholars  Lilli  Lonngren,  Virginia  Spate 
and  Yvonne  Hagen,  as  well  as  the  museum  officials,  Jin  Kotalik  and  Domi- 
nique Bozo,  and  the  gallery  directors,  Louis  Carre  (aided  by  Mme.  Diane 
Foy)  and  Karl  Flinker  have  also  helped  us  greatly.  Special  gratitude  is  also 


10 


due  the  artist's  stepdaughter  Mme.  Andree  Martinel-Kupka  who  has  en- 
couraged and  aided  the  Guggenheim's  efforts  from  the  outset.  Finally,  the 
patient  efforts  of  the  Guggenheim's  staff  require  grateful  acknowledgement 
although  they  must  necessarily  remain  largely  anonymous.  Among  those 
who  may  be  named  in  this  context  besides  Margit  Rowell,  the  sustained  and 
effective  work  of  her  assistant  Karen  Lee  and  the  Museum's  editor,  Carol 
Fuerstein,  call  for  prominent  mention  and  special  gratitude. 

The  Frantisek  Kupka  presentation  at  the  Guggenheim  will  be  followed 
early  in  1976  by  a  single  European  showing  at  the  Kunsthaus  Zurich.  We 
therefore  salute  Dr.  R.  Wehrli  and  Dr.  Felix  A.  Baumann,  respectively  the 
departing  and  the  incoming  directors  of  this  institution,  who  have  both 
given  us  their  generous  professional  help  and  cooperation. 

The  mounting  costs  that  have  become  part  of  our  daily  lives  have  reached 
and  limited  museums  in  many  areas  of  their  functioning.  The  programming 
of  ambitious  shows  and  the  publication  of  valuable  catalogues  have  suffered 
more  than  other  museum  activities  from  these  inhibiting  factors.  Therefore, 
the  aid  extended  to  museums  throughout  the  country  by  the  National  En- 
dowment for  the  Arts  assumes  crucial  significance  as  it  fills  otherwise  insur- 
mountable financial  gaps.  The  Frantisek  Kupka  retrospective  depended  to 
an  important  degree  upon  National  Endowment  funding  which  is  acknowl- 
edged here  with  every  gratitude  on  behalf  of  the  trustees  and  the  staff  of  The 
Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum. 

Because  of  increasing  difficulties  of  every  kind  and  description  that  are 
now  inherent  in  the  organization  of  major  modern  exhibitions,  it  is  safe  to 
predict  that  a  long  time,  probably  decades,  will  pass  before  a  comparable 
effort  can  be  extended  on  behalf  of  Frantisek  Kupka's  work  by  any  New 
York  museum.  It  is  our  sincere  hope  therefore  that  this  full  review  of  the 
Czech  master's  central  contribution  to  modern  art  will  result  in  the  desired 
benefits  for  scholars  and  the  public  at  large. 


THOMAS  M.  MESSER,  DIRECTOR 

The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum 


CENTRAL  EUROPEAN  INFLUENCES 


Meda  Mladek 


i  Bernard  Dorival,  Kupka,  Paris, 
Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
1966,  p.  11. 

2  Denise  Fedit,  Ibid.,  p.  2.7. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  34. 


In  19 1 2,  at  the  Salon  d' Automne  in  Paris,  Frantisek  Kupka  exhibited  what 
he  called  "his  painter's  credo,"  Amorpha,  Fugue  and  Warm  Chromatics. 
French  critics  were  indignant,  enraged.  Almost  unanimously  they  rejected 
the  paintings,  mainly  because  they  were  incompatible  with  French  tradition 
and  taste.  Protests  against  the  barbaric  invasion  of  the  Paris  art  scene  by 
Slavs  and  Americans  reached  the  steps  of  the  French  Parliament. 

In  1966,  however,  the  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne  in  Paris  organized 
a  one-man  show  of  Kupka's  works.  The  French  catalogue  indicated  that, 
without  question,  Kupka  had  by  now  been  accepted  into  the  Paris  school. 
In  it  Bernard  Dorival  states  that:  "Kupka,  already  awakened  by  a  few 
French  Realist  and  Impressionist  paintings  shown  in  Bohemia,  passed 
through  the  stage  of  Art  Nouveau,  which  he  discovered  in  Paris  and  not  in 
Vienna,  as  has  often  been  written,  hesitated  between  a  docile  symbolism 
and  the  lesson  given  by  Odilon  Redon,  traversed  the  expressionism  of 
Toulouse-Lautrec  and  Fauvism,  was  influenced  by  the  praxinoscope  of 
Reynaud  and  chronophotography  of  Marey.  .  . ."'  Denise  Fedit,  in  the  same 
catalogue,  insists  that:  "Kupka  could  not  bring  to  light  his  essentially  orig- 
inal creations  without  the  French  contribution,  which  taught  him  that  a 
pictorial  work  lacks  value  if  it  does  not  observe  certain  laws.  .  .  .  His  en- 
counter with  the  French  painters,  Realist  and  Impressionist,  opened  new 
horizons  before  his  eyes.  From  then  on  he  wished  to  handle  familiar  themes 
as  they  did.  .  .  ."2  The  only  credit  ascribed  to  Prague  is  the  academic  train- 
ing which  gave  Kupka  "excellence  in  drawing"  and  "the  metaphysical  and 
occultist  anxieties"3  which  the  painter  presumably  brought  from  his  coun- 
try of  origin.  Vienna's  influence  is  dismissed  altogether  for  a  rather  surpris- 
ing reason:  "Kupka,  as  a  good  Czech  hostile  to  Germanism,  could  not  allow 


13 


himself  to  be  influenced  by  the  intellectual  or  spiritual  manifestations  that 
he  noted  there.'"1  An  obvious  question  comes  to  mind.  Who  was  right  in 
interpreting  the  art  of  Kupka?  The  French  critics  of  1912  who  thought  it 
outrageously  alien  to  their  Latin  taste  and  tradition,  or  the  critics  of  1966 
who  thought  that  it  was  essentially  a  product  of  French  influence?  This 
question  is  important  not  because  of  any  intrinsic  significance  of  the  1966 
catalogue,  but  because  the  thesis  of  its  authors  has  been  docilely  adopted 
by  many  writers  on  Kupka,  including  several  Czech  art  historians. 

Fourteen  years  had  elapsed  between  Kupka's  arrival  in  Paris  in  1896  and 
the  time  he  began  to  work  on  his  "painter's  credo,"  Amorpba,  Fugue  and 
Warm  Chromatics.  The  temptation  to  conclude  that  these  fourteen  years 
were  fully  responsible  for  Kupka's  discovery  of  non-objective  art  proved 
irresistible  to  French  art-historians  when,  after  some  fifty  years,  they  under- 
stood and  recognized  the  significance  of  his  work,  and  he  was  explained  as 
a  product  of  French  formalistic  evolution.  However,  what  was  not  consid- 
ered was  that  Kupka  had  reached  Paris  after  many  years  of  deep  involve- 
ment with  art  and  art  philosophy.  Nor  was  it  considered  that  the  famous 
"law"5  to  which  Denise  Fedit  refers  must  have  been  known  to  Kupka  before 
his  arrival  in  Paris.  He  had  spent  six  years  at  the  Academies  of  Prague  and 
Vienna,  where  this  theory  was  expounded  by  the  Nazarenes.  It  was  through 
the  application  of  this  law  that  he  was  guided  into  abstraction. 

Neither  was  it  considered  that  Kupka's  Symbolist  art  could  have  had  its 
origin  elsewhere  than  in  Paris.  By  1966  it  was  generally  accepted  that  Sym- 
bolism, like  Impressionism,  was  born  in  France.  "Let  us  repeat  it:  born  in 
France,"6  and  that  the  Manifesto,7  from  which  Symbolism  supposedly  orig- 
inated, reached  Germany  via  a  circuitous  route  through  Belgium  only  ten 
years  later— that  is  in  1896  when  Kupka  was  already  in  Paris.  New  trends 
in  the  history  of  art  suggest  that  Impressionism  is  not  the  source  of  Sym- 
bolism, and  that  German  Symbolism  had  existed  independently  since  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Indeed,  the  Nazarenes  were  Symbol- 
ists. By  1967,  Werner  Hofmann,  in  his  introduction  to  the  catalogue  of 
Kupka's  exhibition  at  the  Museum  des  20.  Jahrhunderts  in  Vienna  recog- 
nized as  I  do,  that  Kupka  gained  from  his  immigration  to  Paris  in  several 
respects,  but  he  also  made  it  clear  that  Kupka  might  have  reached  the  ab- 
stract phase  of  his  development  years  earlier  than  he  actually  did,  had  he 
remained  in  Vienna. 

It  seems  appropriate  to  investigate  Kupka's  formative  years  spent  in  Bo- 
hemia and  in  Vienna  in  order  to  probe  the  various  degrees  to  which  he  was 
influenced  by  Central  European  thought  and  culture.  These  influences  have 
not  been  taken  into  account  by  French  critics  since  little  of  Kupka's  back- 
ground is  known  in  France. 

Bohemia 

While  Kupka'  artistic  education  and  intellectual  environment  in  Prague  and 
Vienna  are  crucial  determinants  of  his  concepts,  knowledge  of  his  child- 
hood also  throws  light  on  his  personality. 

The  land  around  Opocno  and  Jaromer  in  eastern  Bohemia,  where  Kupka 
spent  his  boyhood,  preserved  a  high  concentration  of  Baroque  monuments 


4  Dorival,  Ibid. 

5  The  "law"  was  formulated  in 
France  by  Maurice  Denis  in  the 
1890's  precisely  as  an  antithesis  to 
the  Realist  and  the  Impressionist 
doctrines.  "We  must  repudiate  this 
academic  naturalism,  insisting  that 
one  should  paint  what  one  sees.  . . . 
we  must  repudiate  the  realism  of 
Impressionism  whose  purpose  still 
is  to  imitate  nature.  . .  .  Realism,  one 
of  the  errors  which  we  encounter 
invariably  during  the  worst  epochs 
of  art,  at  times  of  decadence  and 
sterility.  ...  It  should  be  remem- 
bered that  a  picture  ...  is  essentially 
a  flat  surface  covered  with  colors 
which  are  assembled  in  a  certain  or- 
der." Published  in  Art  et  Critique, 
August  13,  1890. 

6  Jean  Cassou  in  Les  Sources  du 
vingtieme  siecle,  Paris,  1961,  p.  54. 
Cassou  was  director  of  the  Musee 
National  d'Art  Moderne  in  Paris, 
and  professor  of  nineteenth  and 
twentieth-century  art  at  the  Ecole 
du  Louvre.  He  is  also  the  author  of 
many  texts  on  modern  art  and  his 
views  have  exercised  considerable 
influence  in  France. 

7  Jean  Moreas,  "Un  Manifeste  lit- 
teraire,  1886,"  in  Guy  Michaud,  La 
Doctrine  symboliste,  Paris,  1947,  p. 

2-3- 


14 


and  art,  in  which  the  boy  showed  an  early  and  lively  interest.  Yet,  the  area 
was  one  of  the  poorest  in  Bohemia,  and  Kupka's  father,  although  a  munici- 
pal official,  could  not  afford  to  send  his  children  to  high  school,  not  even 
the  most  talented  child,  Frank.  In  accordance  with  his  father's  decision,  he 
was  apprenticed  in  a  local  saddler's  workshop  to  learn  a  craft  he  quickly 
grew  to  hate.  Having  missed  secondary  school,  Kupka  could  not  enroll  in  a 
university  to  study  the  two  subjects  in  which  he  was  most  deeply  interested 
—philosophy  and  history.  His  lack  of  a  formal  education— except  for  paint- 
ing—was a  source  of  anguish  and  humiliation,  and  it  led  to  tremendous 
efforts  at  self-education  on  his  part,  especially  during  his  stay  in  Vienna.  It 
also  led  to  a  continuous  search  for  the  company  of  learned  and  intellec- 
tually prominent  men. 

The  family  climate  surrounding  Kupka's  boyhood  Was  not  happy.  He 
lost  his  mother  at  a  young  age,  and  his  stepmother  showed  little  under- 
standing for  his  first  attempts  to  draw  and  paint.  The  boy  withdrew  into 
himself  and  developed  a  strong  tendency  to  indulge  in  dreams.  He  lived, 
indeed,  two  lives,  one  based  on  reality,  the  other  on  fantasy.  This  tendency 
seems  to  have  been  strengthened  by  his  early  encounter  with  spiritualism. 
The  saddler  to  whom  Kupka  was  apprenticed  was  a  well  known  spiritualist 
and  head  of  a  secret  sect.  He  held  regular  seances  at  his  house,  to  which  he 
brought  the  supersensitive  boy,  and  it  was  not  long  before  Kupka  became 
a  much  appreciated  medium. 

Prague,  the  old  city  celebrated  by  Apollinaire,  the  city  which  inspired 
Franz  Kafka's  writings  and  deeply  impressed  Andre  Breton,  was  also  des- 
tined to  leave  strong  impressions  on  young  Kupka.  It  stirred  his  imagina- 
tion, but  it  also  confirmed  his  inclination  toward  daydreaming,  despite  the 
fact  that  his  dreams  were  constantly  shattered  by  the  poverty  in  which  he 
lived  and  by  his  growing  disappointment  with  the  social  order.  In  Prague, 
Kupka  indulged  again  in  spiritualism,  which,  at  least,  had  a  practical  re- 
ward—he earned  money  as  a  successful  medium.  But  it  also  had  a  serious 
effect  on  his  mental  stability,  and  he  suffered  several  breakdowns.  For  the 
rest  of  his  life,  he  was  subject  to  depressions  which  robbed  him  of  much  of 
his  vitality. 

The  factors  that  directly  influenced  Kupka's  artistic  orientation  are,  in 
order  of  time,  if  not  of  importance:  his  involvement  with  folk  art;  his  pro- 
fessional training  and  education  in  Bohemia  which  steeped  him  in  the  Naz- 
arene  tradition;  his  preoccupation  with  two  particular  Czech  painters,  Josef 
Manes  (1820-1871)  and  Mikulas  Ales  (1852-1913)  who  were  educated  in 
Nazarenism  and  influenced  strongly  by  folk  art  and  music;  his  contact  with 
the  Viennese  intellectual  and  artistic  milieu  which  deepened  his  inherent 
tendencies,  stimulated  his  talents  and  determined  his  future  choices. 

Kupka  first  encountered  folk  art  in  his  early  youth,  when  as  a  journey- 
man saddler,  he  wandered  to  Domazlice  in  south  Bohemia,  a  region  well 
known  for  its  rich  folklore.  He  spent  six  months  there.  Many  pages  in  his 
diary,  written  at  that  time,  are  covered  with  drawings  of  folk  costumes  of 
the  same  type  as  those  used  by  Ales.  Both  artists  were  more  interested  in  the 
decorative  details  that  in  the  costumes  and  figures  themselves.  At  that  time, 
it  was  not  yet  a  matter  of  Kupka's  being  inspired  by  Ales,  but  rather  of  an 


15 


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Vj         ^i 

VII  b 


IV  b  Vb  Vlb  VII  < 

CVICENI  V  KRUZICH  A  SPIRALACH. 


fig.  I 

Studnicka,  Exercises:  circles  and  spirals 

from  Cesky  Kreslif,  1885-88. 


fig.  2 

Decorating  a  Czechoslovakian  country 

house. 


16 


fig- 3 

Kupka,  Study  for  Quatre  bistoires  de 

blanc  et  noir,  1925,  gouache  and  india 

ink. 


8  Letter  to  Machar,  January  2,  1902 

9  Cesky  Kreslir,  Jr.  2,  no.  4,  p.  13. 


interest  that  the  two  painters,  brought  up  in  the  same  environment,  had  in 
common. 

When  Kupka  was  seventeen,  he  received  his  first  professional  artistic 
education  at  the  Crafts  School  in  Jaromer.  Its  director  and  Kupka's  pro- 
fessor, Alois  Studnicka  (1842-1927),  was  a  prominent  teacher  of  drawing, 
a  well-known  connoisseur  of  folk  art,  a  specialist  in  ornamentation  and  a 
defender  of  the  ornamental  abstract  concept.  He  was  also  an  admirer  of 
the  great  Czech  painters  of  the  Nazarene  school.  Kupka  emphasized  his 
gratitude  to  Studnicka  throughout  his  life,  crediting  him  with  having  given 
him  a  solid  foundation  in  drawing  and  introducing  him  to  Manes.8  From  a 
professional  review  called  Cesky  Kreslir  [Czech  Draftsman],  which  Stud- 
nicka published  for  three  years  (1885-1888)  for  drawing  teachers,  we  may 
detect  elements  of  his  long-forgotten  didactic  method,  very  different  from 
that  of  the  Academy  where  students  had  to  copy  from  a  model.  Studnicka's 
students  were  trained  to  draw  simple  and  complicated  geometric  lines, 
spirals,  ovals,  circles  and  curves.  "There  is  no  other  way  to  see  better  the 
unskillfulness  of  a  draftsman  than  in  the  drawing  of  a  circle"  was  a  leitmotif 
of  his  teaching.9  He  taught  his  students  his  own  method  of  drawing  these 
basic  elementary  forms  and  curves  until  they  reached  perfection.  He  insis- 
ted that  they  draw  curves  in  one  continuous  line.  Lines  made  out  of  small 
strokes  he  rejected,  as  did  his  teachers  the  Nazarenes.  Studnicka's  students 
also  had  to  learn  how  to  use  color  in  ornamentation.  They  had  to  study  not 
only  Newton's  color  theory  but  also  those  of  Dr.  Wilhelm  Bezold  (Die 
Farbenlebre),  Quido  Schreiber  (Die  Farbenlebre)  and  Rudolf  Adams  (Die 
Farbenharmonie).  Thus  the  ornamentation  that  Kupka  had  first  observed 
as  a  young  journeyman  he  now  studied  professionally.  He  learned  about 


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fig- 4 

Studnicka,  Ornamental  studies  derived 

from  dots,  Cesky  Kreslif,  1885-88. 


fig- 5 

Decorated  Czechoslovakian  country 

house. 


fig.  6 

Kupka,  Study  for  Quatre  histoires  de 

blanc  et  noir,  1915,  gouache  and  india 

ink. 


10  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem, 
Prague,  1923,  p.  97. 

11  Cesky  Kreslif,  Jr.  1,  no.  2,  p.  30. 


ornament  of  different  periods  and  cultures,  especially  that  of  Islam  which 
influenced  Czech  and  Slovak  folkloric  motifs.  Kupka's  diary  reveals  his 
deep  interest  in  ornamentation.  In  it  he  copied  verbatim  pages  from  Cesky 
Kreslir  about  color  mixtures.  He  also  specifically  noted  two  books,  widely 
discussed  in  the  review,  Dr.  Ernest  Brucke's  Die  Psychologie  der  Farben 
(Leipzig,  1866)  and  A.  Andel's  Das  Polychrome  Flachenornament  (Vienna, 
1880).  In  Brucke's  book,  Kupka  learned,  probably  for  the  first  time,  about 
the  invented  colors  of  oriental  art,  particularly  that  of  Moorish  Spain, 
which  Brucke  considered  superior  to  all  others.  In  his  study,  Brucke  rejects 
the  inspiration  of  colors  from  nature,  which  affect  us  more  by  virtue  of 
association  than  by  the  perfection  of  harmony  between  color  and  form, 
and  advocates  that  the  artist  use  invented  colors  in  decorative  paintings. 

Kupka  never  ceased  to  be  interested  in  the  psychology  of  color,  eventu- 
ally devoting  a  great  part  of  his  research  to  it.  In  his  book  Tvoreni  v 
Umeni  Vytvarnem  [Creation  in  Plastic  Art],  published  in  1923  in  Prague, 
he  developed  a  theory  very  similar  to  that  of  Brucke  in  a  chapter  entitled 
"Meaning  and  Feeling  of  Color."  "The  aesthetic  of  color  in  art  is  not  the 
same  in  nature,  they  differ  substantially"1"  wrote  Kupka. 

Even  more  important  for  Kupka  than  theories  of  color  and  ornament 
must  have  been  Studnicka's  rejection  of  realism.  "Whenever  natural  forms 
were  imitated,  art  was  in  decadence  or  at  a  very  low  level  of  development. 
Yet  an  artist  must  not  violate  nature  by  using  shapes  which  are  truly  oppo- 
site of  nature.  Unnatural  shapes  cannot  be  satisfactory,  as  the  eye  imme- 
diately recognizes  their  impossibility  and  incompatibility.  A  real  artist 
should  collect  all  beautiful  elements  he  finds  in  particular  forms  of  the  same 
kind  and  fuse  them  into  one  sole  shape."11  Although  Studnicka's  conception 


19 


of  abstract  art  was  probably  quite  remote  from  Kupka's  "painter's  credo"  of 
191Z,  Kupka's  painstaking  effort  to  realize  the  Amorpha,  Fugue  is  reminis- 
cent of  his  teacher's  advice. 

Kupka's  Nazarene  education  at  the  Prague  Academy  has  generally  gone 
unnoticed  and  yet  the  Nazarenes12  played  a  decisive  role  in  the  formation 
of  modern  Czech  art  in  general  and  of  Kupka's  art  in  particular.  The  orig- 
inal Nazarenes  advocated  the  return  of  painting  to  the  spiritual  orientation 
of  the  late  Middle  Ages  in  Germany.  Contemplation  remained  the  main 
source  of  creative  art  for  their  followers.  Poetic  and  philosophical  thought 
was  the  real  subject  matter  of  art.  They  believed  that  "all  beauty  is  allegory. 
Because  they  are  inexpressible,  the  highest  things  can  only  be  said  allegor- 
ically."13  The  Nazarenes  wanted  to  produce  with  their  paintings  an  effect 
parallel  to  that  of  church  music  or  religious  songs.  As  the  effect  often  had 
to  appeal  from  a  great  distance,  they  realized  that  they  must  revive  mon- 
umental art,  namely  fresco  painting.  This  in  turn,  led  them  to  adopt  a  par- 
ticular style,  and  a  fine,  simplified,  melodic  and  decorative  linear  technique 
became  their  hallmark.  They  realized  that  if  they  wanted  to  disseminate 
their  ideas  rapidly,  they  must  reorganize  the  teaching  system,  and  this  led 
to  the  establishment  of  "master  classes,"  consisting  of  a  very  few  particu- 
larly gifted  students,  who  were  able  "to  keep  their  natural,  unaffected,  freely 
developed  individualism  and  independence."1'8 

Among  the  followers  of  the  original  Nazarene  group  which  moved  from 
Vienna  to  Rome  in  18 10  were  painters  from  Prague,  all  of  whom  would 
eventually  exercise  an  important  role  in  the  development  of  painting  in 
Prague  and  Vienna.  Kupka's  professor  in  Prague,  Frantisek  Sequens  (1836- 
1896),  spent  five  years  at  the  Munich  Academy  before  he  became  director 
of  the  Academy  in  Prague.  He  seems  to  have  followed  the  usual  pedagog- 
ical method;  strict  initial  training  in  drawing,  geometry  and  perspective  the 
first  year;  drawing  from  life  models,  composition  and  introduction  to  paint- 
ing in  the  second;  in  the  third,  students  chose  a  direction  according  to  their 
talent.  The  very  talented  students  were  accepted  into  the  "master  class," 
where  they  drew  cartoons  for  Sequens'  murals  and  stained  glass  windows 
in  Bohemian  churches,  but  they  also  painted  independently.  Kupka's  Czech 
biographers  describe  in  some  detail  how  poor  Kupka  suffered  under  the 
exacting  and  allegedly  uncongenial  teacher— a  Nazarene  who  "kept  forcing 
him  to  draw  plaster  copies  of  sculptures  and  cartoons  for  murals,  while  the 
young  man,  enamoured  of  the  Baroque  sculpture  of  his  native  land,  longed 
for  Manes."15 

Indeed,  Kupka  may  well  have  "suffered"  under  Sequens,  but  evidently 
not  enough  to  choose  to  leave  his  teacher  for  one  of  the  alternative  schools 
then  flourishing  in  Prague.  When  Kupka  came  to  Prague  in  1888  there  were 
three  independent  schools  at  the  Academy:  the  school  of  religious  painting, 
headed  by  the  Nazarene  Sequens;  an  important  landscape  school,  led  by  a 
disciple  of  the  Barbizon  School  who  conducted  his  classes  in  the  open  air 
and  enjoyed  great  popularity;  and  the  equally  popular  school  of  genre 
painting.  Students  were  encouraged  to  switch  direction  in  any  year,  to  "find 
a  professor  whose  style  expresses  their  own  artistic  talents."16  This  raises 
an  interesting  question:  Why  did  Kupka  stay  with  Sequens  during  all  his 


12  In  1809,  a  group  of  painters 
founded,  at  the  Vienna  Academy,  a 
brotherhood  modeled  on  the  medi- 
eval Bruderschaften.  After  moving 
to  Italy,  they  became  known  as  the 
Nazarenes.  In  about  the  middle  of 
the  century,  the  Nazarenes  occupied 
nearly  all  the  important  German  and 
Central  European  academies  and 
exercised  a  great  influence  over  the 
development  of  art  in  that  part  of 
the  world.  Of  particular  interest  is 
the  Academy  in  Munich  where  Peter 
von  Cornelius  (1783-1867)  was  di- 
rector from  1825.  (His  student  P. 
Lenz  became  director  of  the  famous 
Benedictine  school  of  Beuron,  where 
Paul  Serusier  learned  about  the  use 
of  the  Golden  Section  and  brought 
it  to  Paris  in  1897.)  During  his  lead- 
ership, the  influence  of  the  Munich 
Academy  became  so  important  and 
the  style  of  its  painters  so  distinct 
that  the  members  soon  became 
known  as  the  "Munich  School," 
whose  impact  can  be  likened  to  that 
of  the  Ecole  de  Paris  in  the  twentieth 
century.  Another  recognized  center 
was  Dusseldorf  under  the  director- 
ship of  Wilhelm  Schadow  (1788- 
1861).  But,  whereas  Cornelius  in 
Munich  accepted  only  the  grand 
style  of  primarily  monumental  but 
always  simplified  and  idealized 
forms,  Schadow  eventually  allowed 
the  introduction  into  Nazarene  art 
of  small  sentimental  paintings, 
which  originated  in  the  genre  art  of 
France  and  Holland. 

13  Peter  von  Cornelius  quoted  in  Fritz 
Novotny,  Painting  and  Sculpture  in 
Europe:  1780-1SS0,  Baltimore,  i960, 
p.  68. 

14  A.  Kuhn,  Peter  v.  Cornelius,  Berlin, 
1921,  p.  151. 

15  Emmanuel  Siblik,  Frantisek  Kupka, 
Prague,  1928,  p.  5. 

16  Almanac  of  the  Prague  Academy, 
Prague,  1926,  p.  46. 


fig- 7 

Manes,  Detail  from  Rukopis 

Krdlovehradecky  [Manuscript],  Prague, 

1857-60. 


fig.  8 

Ales,  Ornamental  border  for  poem, 
"Zaboj"  from  Rukopis  Krdlovehradecky, 
[Manuscript],  Prague,  1884. 


17  Josef  Manes,  Prague,  Narodni  Gal- 
erie,  1971,  exhibition  catalogue. 

18  Letter  to  Machar,  January  2,  1902. 


four  years  at  the  academy,  when  he  could  have  turned,  for  example,  to  the 
flourishing  modern  landscape  school?  The  obvious  answer  is  that  Kupka 
had  a  deeper  affinity  for  Nazarenism  and  found  little  attraction  in  landscape 
painting.  There  is  no  complaint  in  his  diary,  where  we  find  a  note  of  June 
15,  1889:  "In  the  lap  of  good  fortune,  I  am  in  the  Academy  of  Painters  in 
Prague!"  The  diary  further  shows  that  he  studied  Italian  in  preparation  for 
a  future  in  Rome,  the  dream  of  every  Nazarene.  In  his  short  autobiography 
of  1902,  despite  a  few  condescending  remarks  about  the  Academy,  he  re- 
cords: "Every  year  I  won  school  prizes  and  was  presented  as  an  example 
of  diligence  to  the  other  students  at  the  Academy.  The  director  had  a  great 
liking  for  my  compositions  in  Manes'  style."  This  quotation  reveals  beyond 
any  doubt  that  Sequens  let  his  pupil  follow  the  example  of  his  idol  Manes. 

A  powerful  and  lasting,  influence  on  Kupka's  life  and  art  was  Josef 
Manes.  He  died  the  year  Kupka  was  born.  Manes  had  studied  at  the  Prague 
Academy  for  many  years  with  an  original  Nazarene,  and  spent  three  years 
in  Munich.  During  his  stay  in  the  Bavarian  capital,  Hegelian  nationalism 
was  quickly  gaining  ground  in  Germany,  and  Manes  soon  returned  to 
Prague  to  stress  the  validity  of  a  Czech  culture  less  dependent  on  foreign 
patterns.  As  a  result  of  his  new-found  purpose,  Manes  made  many  trips 
into  the  countryside  to  study  the  people  and  their  art.  These  trips  provided 
him  with  an  experience  that  would  have  lasting  consequences  on  his  style. 
In  1971  Jin  Kotalfk  reevaluated  Manes'  work  on  the  occasion  of  an  exhibi- 
tion at  the  Narodni  Galerie  in  Prague.17  He  stresses  the  romantic  substance 
of  Manes'  contribution,  which  finds  its  most  remarkable  expression  in  his 
symbolism.  Manes  personifies  the  ideals  of  Nazarenism  by  his  stress  on 
composition  based  on  melodical  line  and  by  his  "global  and  metaphorical 
perception  of  nature  and  its  poetic  interpretation."  Kupka's  admiration  for 
Manes,  dating  back  to  his  early  years,  continued  throughout  his  life.  After 
six  years  of  experience  in  France,  he  still  believed  in  Manes'  approach  to 
art:  "Professor  Studnicka  revealed  Manes  to  me,  and  when  he  was  bidding 
me  farewell  he  urged  me  to  seek  in  Manes  all  an  artist  can  express.  His 
words  fell  on  fertile  soil.  Manes  impressed  and  moved  me  powerfully  and 
fatefully."18  Kupka  treasured  Manes'  illustrations  for  a  collection  of  old 
Czech  poems  entitled  Manuscripts,  and  Manes'  photograph  hung  on  his 
studio  wall  until  the  end  of  his  life. 

Manes'  most  prominent  follower  was  Mikulas  Ales  whose  art  further 
influenced  Kupka.  Ales  popularized  the  Manesian  concept.  He  had  a  gen- 
uine decorative  talent  which  the  Nazarene's  reverence  for  Diirer  could  only 
strengthen.  He  believed  that  he  could  express  his  ideas  only  by  monumen- 
tal art.  A  painter  of  robust  and  powerful  talent,  reminiscent  of  Delacroix 
in  his  warmth  of  color  and  direct  expressiveness,  he  abandoned  paintings 
on  canvas  and  turned  to  the  preparation  of  monumental  frescoes.  His  sur- 
viving cartoons  show  him  at  work  on  flat  surfaces,  evidencing  his  under- 
standing of  the  use  of  surface  in  architecture.  Even  more  than  Manes,  he 
stressed  the  globality  and  integration  of  vision  in  symbols.  Regrettably,  his 
two-dimensionally  conceived  pieces  ran  up  against  the  local  taste  of  that 
time.  Ales  sought  consolation  in  communion  with  folk  art  and  was  seduced 
by  its  rhythm  and  melody.  He  went  beyond  Manes'  style  in  emphasis  upon 


21 


ornament,  integrating  figures  and  all  other  elements  into  ornamental  space, 
in  opposition  to  the  prevailing  taste  for  realism.  Ales  showed  his  generation 
the  beauty,  melodiousness,  harmony  and  symbolism  of  folk  art  ornamenta- 
tion. The  strongest  manifestation  of  his  interest  in  folk  art  was  in  his  exten- 
sive illustrations  of  Czech  folk  songs.  His  decorative  paintings  for  the 
exterior  and  interior  of  buildings  and  on  furniture  demonstrate  his  disre- 
gard for  the  strict  division  between  high  and  applied  art,  and  represent  an 
early  expression  of  the  Czech  Secession.  In  the  years  Kupka  spent  at  the 
Czech  Academy,  Ales  lived  in  Prague,  rediscovered  and  celebrated  by  a 
younger  generation  of  painters.  We  do  not  know  if  Kupka  knew  Ales  per- 
sonally, but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  did.  Kupka's  close  friends,  Siblik19  and 
Ji'ra20  confirm  his  great  admiration  for  Ales'  work.  Kupka's  encounter  with 
Ales'  illustrations  for  folk  songs  was  important.  These  illustrations  repre- 
sent a  masterful  synthesis  of  the  musical  and  the  pictorial  and  found  their 
echo  in  Kupka's  later  desire  to  fuse  painting  with  music. 

During  Kupka's  study  at  the  Prague  Academy,  the  year  1891  was  par- 
ticularly significant  in  Czech  art  because  of  the  Jubilee  Exhibition.  This 
soon  revealed  itself  as  a  manifestation  of  Czech  cultural  independence.  On 
this  occasion  a  number  of  aspects  of  Czech  creativity  were  exhibited  simul- 
taneously. The  "out-of-date"  school  of  the  Nazarenes  was  prominently 
represented.  The  modern  trend  of  realistic  and  genre  painting  was  shown  in 
a  separate  exhibit,  and,  for  the  first  time,  genuine  examples  of  Czech  folk 
art  were  prominently  featured.  In  addition,  another  group  of  paintings, 
"the  first  result  of  a  great  effort  to  find  a  new,  genuinely  Czech  style"21  was 
recognized  as  what  we  call  today  the  style  of  the  Czech  Secession.  This  ex- 
hibition was  the  best  possible  opportunity  for  Kupka  to  observe  opposite 
trends:  the  realism  of  Dusseldorf  and  France  and  the  idealism  of  the 
Nazarenes.  Nowhere  could  he  better  understand  the  ornamental,  melodic 
and  symbolic  art  of  the  Czech  Secession  than  when  juxtaposed  with  its 
original  sources,  the  Nazarenes  and  Czech  folk  art.  And  it  may  have  been 
here  that  he  made  his  choice.  His  feeling  for  Manes  deepened  and  he  spent 
that  summer  in  Valassko,  eastern  Moravia,  a  region  rich  in  folk  art,  in  order 
to  "immerse  himself  in  the  vital  source  of  folk  art,  following  Manes'  ex- 
ample."22 Back  in  Prague  in  the  fall  of  1891,  he  was  accepted  in  the  master 
class  of  Sequens  and  painted  compositions  in  the  style  of  Manes  and  Ales 
and  under  the  influence  of  folk  art.  Before  entering  the  Vienna  Academy  in 
the  autumn  of  1892  he  spent  his  last  vacation  near  Znojmo  in  southern 
Moravia,  another  district  steeped  in  the  tradition  of  folk  art.  Unfortunately, 
none  of  Kupka's  paintings  created  during  this  period,  when  he  was  most 
directly  stimulated  by  Manes,  Ales  and  folk  art,  have  so  far  been  recovered 
and  we  have  only  sparse  information  about  them.  In  1900  Kupka  sent  some 
drawings  to  a  Prague  review,  Zlatd  Praha,  which  he  described  as  an  orna- 
mental head  for  which  he  used  motifs  from  Czech  folk  art.  In  1901  he  wrote 
in  a  letter  to  Machar  from  a  region  in  the  mountains  of  Slovenia  that  he 
was  no  longer  interested  in  painting  peasants  in  the  national  costumes  they 
were  still  wearing  in  that  region.  But  he  added  a  significant  statement: 
"Maybe  I  will  paint  them  again,  but  not  the  way  it  has  been  done  to  date."23 
And  indeed,  the  melodic  new  visions  of  Kupka's  dancing  girls  in  Amorpba, 


19  Siblik,  Kupka,  p.  7. 

20  Jaroslav  Ji'ra  [Frant.  Kupka  as  Artist 
and  as  Man],  Ndrodni  Osvobozeni, 
no.  261,  Prague,  1931,  pp.  i-z. 

21  Zlatd  Praha,  Prague,  1891;  reprinted 
in  Dilo,  Prague,  1903,  p.  102. 

22  Siblik,  Kupka,  p.  8.  It  is  not  without 
interest  that  two  of  the  most  impor- 
tant artists  of  the  Viennese  Seces- 
sion, the  painter  Adolf  Hoelzel 
(1853-1934)  and  the  architect  Josef 
Hoffmann  (1870-1956)  were  born 
and  spent  their  childhoods  in  the 
same  region. 

23  September  13,  1901. 


Fugue,  and  Lines,  Planes,  Spaces  could  not  have  been  possible  without 
Kupka's  "concealed  recollection"  which  Carl  Jung  describes  as  :  "A  musi- 
cian who  has  heard  a  peasant  tune  or  popular  song  in  childhood  .  .  .  finds  it 
cropping  up  as  the  theme  of  a  symphonic  movement  that  he  is  composing  in 
adult  life.  An  idea  or  an  image  has  moved  back  from  the  subconscious  into 
the  conscious  mind."24 


24  Carl  Jung,  Man  and  His  Symbols, 
New  York,  1964,  p.  37. 

25  In  later  years  Kupka  always  referred 
to  these  earnings  from  his  activities 
as  a  medium  as  coming  from  lessons 
given  in  religion. 

26  This  painting  was  made  purely  for 
financial  reasons  and  was  repeat- 
edly condemned  by  Kupka  in  later 
years. 

27  Karl  Kraus,  Die  Fackel,  Vienna,  no. 
400, 1914,  p.  2. 

28  Alois  Riegl,  Stilfragen:  Grundlegun- 
gen  zu  einer  Geschichte  der  Orna- 
mentik,  Berlin,  1893.  Wilhelm  Wor- 
ringer  (1881-1928)  built  his  own 
thesis  as  published  in  Abstraktion 
und  Einfiihlung,  Munich,  1908,  on 
the  foundation  of  Riegl's  theories. 
Worringer  compared  abstraction 
and  naturalism  and  recognized  ab- 
straction as  an  essential  formulative 
principle  of  art.  See  also  T.  Lipps, 
Aesthetik,  Hamburg,  1903-06.  Lipps 
was  Worringer's  teacher  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Munich. 


Vienna 

With  the  single  exception  of  Werner  Hofmann  cited  above,  art  historians 
either  completely  overlook  Kupka's  four  years  in  Vienna,  or,  at  most, 
downgrade  their  importance.  But,  thanks  to  records  preserved  at  the 
Academy  and  to  the  letters  written  by  Kupka  between  1894  and  1914  to  his 
friends,  especially  Arthur  Roessler,  his  time  in  the  Austrian  capital  can 
now  be  reliably  reconstructed.  The  importance  of  Kupka's  stay  in  Vienna 
rests  not  so  much  on  the  advancement  of  his  painting  technique  as  on  his 
exposure  to  the  ideas  which  were  current  in  Vienna  at  that  particular  time. 
These  were  strongly  formative  years  for  Kupka's  personal  philosophy  and 
for  his  concept  of  art. 

Kupka  came  to  Vienna  in  the  summer  of  1892,  when  he  was  twenty-one. 
He  was  accepted  directly  into  the  master  class  of  Professor  A.  Eisenmenger 
(1830-1907),  a  Nazarene  and  a  specialist  in  fresco  painting.  As  in  Prague, 
Kupka  took  no  notice  of  the  very  successful  schools  of  landscape  and  genre 
painting.  As  in  Prague,  Kupka  was  obliged  to  support  himself  and,  in  order 
to  earn  money,  he  seems  to  have  served  again  as  a  medium  in  spiritualist 
seances.25  But  he  was  unable  to  pay  for  the  master  class  and  during  the 
second  semester  was  struck  from  the  register  of  the  Academy  "for  inability 
to  pay."  He  was  readmitted,  however,  and  relieved  of  the  school  fee  during 
the  third  semester.  Although  he  did  not  receive  the  Rome  Prize,  which  he 
always  claimed  he  had  been  promised,  he  was  instead  awarded  a  special 
prize  of  two  hundred  florins  from  the  Academy  exhibition  fund.  In  a  state 
of  terrible  disappointment  he  announced  his  withdrawal  from  the  Academy 
on  December  2.0, 1893  and  began  to  paint  his  colossal  work  The  Last  Dream 
of  the  Dying  Heine,  commissioned  by  the  Viennese  Kunstverein.26 

Vienna,  the  capital  of  the  monarchy,  City  of  Dreams,  and  the  "Proving- 
Ground  for  World  Destruction,"27  was,  at  that  time,  a  very  busy  cultural 
center.  It  is  surely  not  a  coincidence  that  modern  architecture,  abstract 
painting,  legal  and  logical  positivism,  the  beginning  of  twelve  tone  music, 
psychoanalysis  and  art  history  were  all  in  simultaneous  evidence  in  Vienna 
around  the  turn  of  the  century.  In  the  field  of  the  fine  arts,  Alois  Riegl  (1858- 
1905),  professor  of  art  history  in  Vienna  during  the  period  of  Kupka's  study, 
published  his  Stilfragen,1*  in  which  he  recorded  his  opposition  to  Gottfried 
Semper's  materialistic  dictum  that  form  follows  function  and  recognized 
that  the  fundamental  intent  of  a  work  of  art  is  to  give  form  to  the  inner 
life  of  man.  He  saw  ornament  as  the  purest  and  most  lucid  expression  of 
artistic  volition.  Kupka  would,  at  a  later  date,  emphasize  again  and  again, 
in  his  book,  in  his  articles  and  in  interviews,  his  concept  and  belief  that  "it 
is  necessary  for  an  artist  to  seek  and  find  a  means  by  which  he  may  express 
the  material  likeness  of  all  movements  and  states  of  his  inner  life  and 


2-3 


through  which  he  may  capture  all  abstractions"29  and  that  "ornament 
should  be  revived."30 

It  was  Otto  Wagner  (1841-1918),  the  famous  Viennese  architect,  who 
became  a  defender  of  simple  geometric  structure.  In  an  inaugural  lecture  at 
the  Viennese  Academy  in  1894  he  argued  that  "what  is  practical  may  also 
be  beautiful,"  as  against  the  German  Jugendstil  thesis  that  "what  is  beau- 
tiful can  if  necessary  also  be  practical."  His  lecture  as  well  as  his  book31 
were  very  successful.  Many  talented  students  at  the  Academy  became 
Wagner's  followers  and,  later,  the  creators  of  a  new  architecture  and 
decorative  style  called  Viennese  Secession.  Arguments  for  and  against  orna- 
mentation soon  began  to  excite  Viennese  artistic  circles. 

At  about  the  same  time,  Viennese  poets  and  intellectuals  became  con- 
scious of  the  limitations  of  language.  The  young  poet,  Hugo  von  Hofmann- 
sthal  (1874-1924)  and  the  Bohemian-born  critic  and  philosopher,  Fritz 
Mauthner  (1894-1923)32  were  highly  skeptical  about  the  range  of  thoughts 
and  feelings  susceptible  to  communication  by  words.  Kupka  would  later 
reach  the  same  conclusion  about  painting:  "Because  no  two  people  have  the 
same  intellect  and  senses,  we  cannot  find  the  truth  in  representing  things 
as  we  see  them;  they  will  always  be  distorted."33 

Kupka's  compatriot,  Eduard  Hanslick  (1825-1904),  professor  of  music 
at  the  University  of  Vienna,  maintained  in  his  much  debated  book  Von 
Miisikaliscb  Schonem^  that  beauty  was  entirely  self-contained  and  rejected 
literary  ideas  as  subjects  for  musical  composition.  According  to  Hanslick, 
music  was  essentially  "logic  of  sound  in  motion  .  .  .  The  important  law  is 
the  primordial  law  of  harmonic  progression  by  means  of  which  themes  are 
developed  and  transformed.""  Around  1909  Kupka  made  a  series  of  pastels 
and  drawings  depicting  progression  of  movement  according  to  the  laws  of 
music  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  applicable  to  painting. 

Kupka  participated  very  actively  in  the  intellectual  ferment  of  Vienna. 
His  Czech  friend  Milos  Meixner,  with  whom  he  shared  an  apartment  for 
two  years,  was  educated  in  philosophy.  The  two  young  men  spent  much  of 
their  time  together  in  feverish  reading  and  discussion.  As  Kupka  wrote, 
"Days,  evenings,  nights  we  spent  together  in  turning  the  world  upside  down 
and  I  started  to  make  up  for  what  I  had  missed  in  my  education.  My  studio 
was  a  meeting  place  of  many  German  intellectuals  and  I  tried  to  penetrate 
Kant's  metaphysical  knots."36 

Kupka's  interest  in  spiritualism  and  esoterica  brought  him  into  contact 
with  Austrian  and  German  Theosophists.  Theosophy  at  that  time  was  for 
Kupka  an  ideal  practical  philosophy  that  helped  him  to  deepen  his  knowl- 
edge, brought  him  into  contact  with  Eastern  philosophy  and  sustained  him 
in  the  belief  that  life  never  dies.  He  was  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Para- 
celsus and  Calvin  and  studied  many  philosophers  from  Plato  to  Nietzsche. 
Eastern  philosophy  only  reaffirmed  the  Nazarene  doctrine  of  contempla- 
tion as  a  source  of  artistic  inspiration.  However,  as  a  painter,  he  emphasized 
the  need  for  communicating  experience  to  others.  "Contemplation  is  a 
virtue  if  we  recognize  the  truth  but  it  becomes  a  vice  if  we  don't  commu- 
nicate it  to  others."37 


29  Tvofeni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  p.  123. 

30  Notes  for  Tvofeni  v  umeni 
vytvarnem. 

31  Otto  Wagner,  Moderne  Architektur, 
Berlin,  1896. 

32  Fritz  Mauthner,  Beitrage  zu  einer 
Kritik  der  Sprache,  3  vols.,  Stutt- 
gart, 1901-03,  vol.  1,  p.  III. 

33  Tvofeni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  p.  42. 

34  Eduard  Hanslick,  Won  Musikalisch 
Scbonem,  Leipzig,  1854.  This  book 
was  so  popular  that  by  1910  there 
had  been  eighteen  editions.  Hans- 
lick returned  from  the  University  in 
1895  but  continued  to  write  for  the 
Nene  Freie  Presse  in  Vienna. 

35  Eduard  Hanslick,  The  Beautiful  in 
Music,  Indianapolis  and  New  York, 
1957,  p.  51.  English  translation  by 
Gustav  Cohen. 

36  Letter  to  Machar,  January  2,  1902. 

37  Letter  to  a  sect  brother,  December 
8,  1894.  Collection  Wiener 
Stadtbibliothek,  Vienna. 


2-4 


38  Ibid. 

39  Karl  Diefenbach,  Ein  Beitrag  zur 
Geschichte  der  Zeitgenossichen 
KitHStpflege,  Vienna,  1895. 


In  1894  Theosophy  brought  Kupka  into  contact  with  the  Nazarene  artist 
Karl  Diefenbach  (1851-?),  a  somewhat  extravagant  and  extremely  contro- 
versial painter  and  philosopher  who  was  called  everything  from  "Kohlrabi 
Apostle"  and  swindler  to  "pioneer  of  a  New  Age."  Diefenbach  came  to 
Vienna  from  Munich  in  189Z,  the  same  year  as  Kupka.  He  believed  that 
most  contemporary  human  behavior  and  its  resultant  social  conditions 
were  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature  and  thus  the  source  of  human  misery. 
Diefenbach  used  his  art  to  argue  for  the  return  of  man  to  nature,  peace  and 
humanity,  referring  to  himself  as  ein  Ideen  Maler  and  ein  Protest  Kiinstler 
(an  idea  painter,  a  protest  artist).  He  painted  prodigiously,  primarily  in 
cycles  on  religion,  pedagogical  and  scientific  themes  such  as  Thou  shalt  not 
kill  and  paradise  regained,  mostly  left  in  sketches  or  finished  by  his  pupils, 
such  as  his  most  devoted  disciple,  Fidus  (Hugo  Hoppener,  [1868-1948]), 
because  his  philosophical  and  moral  preoccupations  absorbed  much  of  his 
time.  After  spending  several  weeks  in  a  Munich  prison  because  of  his  habit 
of  taking  a  daily  air  bath  in  the  nude  in  his  garden,  he  moved  to  Vienna 
where  he  hoped  to  pursue  a  quieter  life. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  which  was  accompanied  by  great  publicity,  Diefen- 
bach became  Kupka's  idol:  "I  dreamt  about  him  for  two  years  and  now  I 
spend  a  lot  of  time  with  him."  Kupka  will  say  in  a  letter  in  1894:  "He  is  a 
moralist,  a  musician,  a  painter,  a  poet ...  he  imagines  his  happiness  [Gliick- 
seligkeit]  as  Nirvana.  But  I  found  out  that  he  doesn't  know  enough  about 
esoterica  . . .  The  basis  of  his  thoughts  is  probably  Aristotle,  Plutarch,  Plato 
and  Schiller.  Paracelsus  or  Agrippa  von  Nettesheim  are  unknown  to  him— 
he  is  a  Naturpbilosopber.™  In  1894,  the  twenty-three  year  old  Kupka  moved 
to  Diefenbach's  isolated  cottage  in  Hiitteldorf  and  spent  several  months 
there.  It  was  a  kind  of  a  commune  where  Diefenbach  lived  with  his  children, 
their  teachers  and  several  pupils  who  followed  the  precepts  of  his  practical 
philosophy:  vegetarian  life  with  daily  air  bath  and  exercise  in  the  nude, 
philosophical  discussions,  contemplation,  music  and  painting.  Diefenbach 
believed  in  a  certain  analogy  between  painting  and  music  and  in  the  mutual 
influence  of  the  two.  Many  musical  soirees  were  held,  and  a  pianist,  or  pref- 
erably a  violinist,  accompanied  Diefenbach  and  his  students  while  they 
worked.'9  It  is  unlikely  that  Kupka  became  a  better  painter  because  of  Die- 
fenbach's teaching,  but  many  characteristics  of  his  lifestyle  and  philosophy 
of  art  are  so  similar  to  Diefenbach's  that  his  influence  cannot  be  ignored. 
Kupka  was  greatly  addicted  to  daily  physical  exercise  in  the  nude  in  his  gar- 
den in  any  weather,  summer  or  winter,  to  which  he  ascribed  a  vital  impor- 
tance and  which  he  continued  to  practice  until  a  very  old  age.  He  drew 
conclusions  about  the  influence  of  one's  physical  condition,  ascetism,  the 
consumption  of  wine,  nicotine  and  caffeine  on  the  perception  of  color.  He 
developed  his  theory  at  length  in  his  chapter  on  color  in  his  book: 

I  have  discovered  for  myself  the  sensations  of  splendid  sensitivity  to  color, 
aroused  exclusively  by  hygienic  care.  After  my  morning  shower,  I  exercise, 
summer  and  winter,  entirely  naked  in  the  garden.  It  is  also  a  manner  of  harden- 
ing the  body.  It  is  like  a  prayer  with  which  1  turn  to  the  rising  sun,  the  great 
fireivorks  in  the  beautiful  seasons  accompanied  by  birdsongs,  my  entire  body 
penetrated  by  the  fragrances  and  the  rays  of  light.  Thus  1  experience  magnificent 


-5 


moments,  bathed  by  hues  flowing  from  the  titanic  keyboard  of  color.  The  prin- 
ciple of  harmonized  forces  is  the  best  answer  to  all  questions  as  to  enrich  and 
grasp  the  picturesqueness  of  the  colorist.40 

Just  as  Diefenbach  ordered  piano  and  violin  music  for  his  painting  sessions 
with  his  pupils,  Kupka  writes  in  his  book  particularly  about  the  violin 
and  its  capacity  to  unfold  a  specific  chromatism.  We  know  from  his  post- 
war correspondence  with  Jindf ich  Waldes  and  from  the  testimony  of  many 
of  his  friends  the  degree  to  which  music  was  indispensable  to  him,  and  the 
fact  that  the  radio  was  always  playing  music  in  his  Paris  studio. 

In  1895,  through  Diefenbach,  Kupka  met  the  future  art  critic  Arthur 
Roessler  (1877-1955).  They  became  good  friends  and  saw  each  other  very 
often,  and  for  a  time  Roessler  lived  in  Kupka's  apartment.  At  that  time 
Roessler  was  a  student  of  philosophy  and  history  of  art  at  the  University 
of  Vienna  and  was  therefore  in  touch  with  the  ideas  current  in  the  intel- 
lectual world.  Kupka  was  six  years  older  than  Roessler,  which  gave  him 
a  certain  superiority  in  experience  and  spared  him  his  usual  complexes, 
which  stemmed  from  his  lack  of  a  classical  education.  We  sense  in  Kupka's 
letters  a  tone  of  assurance  which  enabled  him  to  express  and  formulate 
his  thoughts  boldly.  It  was  at  that  time  that  Kupka  realized  that  a  "subject" 
is  unnecessary  in  painting,  that  one  can  experience  a  great  joy  just  in  seeing 
colors  and  lines.  He  speaks  of  "spots  of  color  and  lines  moving  in  his 
head"41  and  signs  most  of  his  letters  to  Roessler  "color  symphonist,"  which 
is  what  he  was  called  by  his  Viennese  friends.  While  difficult  to  prove,  the 
assumption  is  not  farfetched  that  Kupka  influenced  his  friend  Roessler's 
ideas  on  abstraction  as  expressed  in  the  introduction  to  his  book  Neu 
Dachau,  published  in  1905,  as  well  as  in  his  call  to  painters  to  use 
simultaneous  color  contrast  in  abstract  ornament.  But  at  that  time  in 
Vienna,  Kupka  wished  to  express  more  than  an  emotion,  a  state  of  mind; 
like  so  many  Central  Europeans,  his  concern  was  to  give  form  to  the 
metaphysical  anxiety  that  tormented  him.  These  philosophical  concerns 
are  reflected  in  his  paintings  of  the  Viennese  period  such  as  Quam  ad 
causam  sumus?  (Why  are  we  here?),  Hymn  to  the  Universe  and  Towards 
Luminous  Heights.  Unfortunately  these  three  paintings  are  now  lost. 

We  do  not  know  how  many  of  Roessler's  friends  in  Vienna  were  also 
Kupka's  friends.  Roessler's  correspondence  with  many  Czech  and  Austrian 
painters  may,  in  the  future,  open  the  door  to  a  new  study  of  this  Viennese 
period  in  the  history  of  art,  now  so  very  much  neglected— the  history  of  the 
Secession.  A  part  of  this  history  is  Kupka's  participation  in  the  movement. 
For  decades  his  evident  Secessionist  morphology  has  been  ascribed  to  his 
origins  and  to  his  stay  in  Vienna.  The  Czech  critics  have  treated  these 
elements  of  his  style  with  a  certain  embarassment,  and  the  French  have 
rejected  these  characteristics  as  traces  of  his  early,  non-French  taste,  "Le 
gout  si  different  du  notre—helas!"42  With  the  changing  of  public  taste, 
Kupka's  Secessionist  verticals,  horizontals,  squares  and  circles  are  currently 
being  reevaluated,  but  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  French  Art  Nouveau; 
this  hypothesis  is  based  on  the  false  ideas  that  French  Art  Nouveau,  German 
Jugendstil  and  Viennese  Secession  are  essentially  the  same  style  and  that  the 
Viennese  Secession  did  not  begin  as  a  movement  until  April  3,  1897.  It  is 


40  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  pp.  90, 
94- 

41  Letter  to  Roessler,  September  n, 
1895. 

42  Ed.  Deverin,  "F.  Kupka,"  L' Art 
decoratif,  July  1909. 


26 


43  Noted  in  letter  to  Roessler,  October 
10,  1910. 


important  to  understand  the  basic  conceptual  and  formal  differences  be- 
tween Art  Nouveau,  which  originated  with  French  Post  Impressionism  and 
Jugendstil,  whose  origins  are  in  the  unrealistic,  idealistic  paintings  of  the 
Nazarenes.  Jugendstil  reached  Vienna  late  and  never  took  deep  root. 
Viennese  Secession  as  a  style  should  really  be  considered  as  its  counter- 
movement.  While  the  Secession  association  was  not  officially  formed  until 
1897,  elements  of  the  movement's  style  had  been  present  in  the  Viennese 
climate  for  some  time  before.  The  movement  had  its  roots  in  the  School 
for  Arts  and  Crafts,  annexed  to  the  Oesterreichisches  Museum  fur  Kunst 
und  Industrie.  This  institution  had  been  established  in  1864,  when  Vienna 
was  the  first  city  on  the  continent  to  respond  to  G.  Semper's  call  for  reform 
in  art  education.  Its  aim  was  to  abolish  the  distinction  between  the  fine  and 
decorative  arts  and  to  establish  studios  in  which  these  arts  would  be 
executed  in  a  spirit  of  old  Bruderschaften,  brotherly  cooperation  between 
master  and  pupil  — all  ideas  of  the  Nazarenes.  It  is  most  likely  that  Kupka, 
who  had  warm  memories  of  similar  teaching  in  Jaromer,  would  recognize 
the  parallel  concepts  emanating  from  the  Viennese  school.  Furthermore, 
Kupka  himself,  prior  to  leaving  Vienna,  made  an  effort  to  organize  some 
sort  of  artists'  association  (Kiinstlerbitnd)  on  the  lines  of  the  Secession,  but 
failed.43 


44  Though  the  book  was  not  published 
until  1923,  the  notes  were  written 
between  1910  and  1914. 

45  There  are  several  hundred  gouaches, 
watercolors,  drawings  and  prints 
from  his  pre-abstract  period  in  the 
Narodni  Galerie,  Prague  and  nearly 
five  hundred  preparatory  studies  for 
his  abstract  paintings  at  The  Mu- 
seum of  Modern  Art,  New  York.  I 
am  indebted  to  Alfred  H.  Barr,  Jr., 
himself  deeply  interested  in  Kupka, 
for  allowing  me  to  work  for  several 
years  on  these  studies  and  thereby 
discover  the  origins  of  almost  all  of 
Kupka's  abstract  painting. 


Road  to  the  New  Reality 

Kupka's  artistic  development  is  a  long,  tortuous  groping  towards  abstrac- 
tion, with  only  a  few,  brief  deviations  with  which  he  quickly  grew  disillu- 
sioned. His  concept  of  non-objective  art  is  clearly  evident  from  several 
sources:  notes  for  his  book  and  the  book  itself  Tvoreni  v  umeni  Vytvarnem,M 
his  correspondence  with  friends  and  his  preparatory  studies  for  paintings 
and  illustrations.'5  The  book  tells  us  about  his  philosophical  ideas  and  his 
letters  further  reveal  his  commitment  to  spiritism  and  Theosophy.  The 
studies  for  his  paintings  document  his  method  of  working  and  his  creative 
process.  Clearly,  his  early  non-abstract  work  already  contains  the  germs 
of  his  future  abstractions.  Kupka's  particular  interests  and  inclinations- 
folk  art,  spiritism,  Theosophy,  Nazarenism,  Secession— evolve  from  one 
another;  they  are  links  in  the  chain  of  Kupka's  evolution,  which  is  con- 
tinuous and  logical. 


^7 


Czech  Folk  Art  and  his  knowledge  of  ornament  awakened  his  interest  in 
Greek  vases  of  the  sixth  and  fifth  centuries  B.C.  which  he  studied  in  the 
Louvre.  They  confirmed  his  thinking  that  "ornament  was  not  invented  to 
fill  empty  spaces,  but  to  complete  the  event  the  figures  are  describing."46 
Similarly,  it  awakened  his  interest  in  Celtic  ornament,  which  enchanted 
him  and  which  he  studied  during  numerous  trips  to  Brittany.47  In  referring 
to  Celtic  art,  Kupka  was  justifying  his  decision  to  abandon  reality.48  His 
involvement  with  ornament  led  him  finally  to  Islamic  art.  Its  symbolic, 
ecstatic,  rhythmic  and  decorative  quality  provided  him  with  a  source  of 
constant  delight  and  instruction.  The  pure  form  of  Islamic  ornament,  con- 
ceived exclusively  in  aesthetic  terms,  without  any  reference  to  nature, 
merely  a  statement  of  formal  relations,  found  similarities  with  his  own  aim 
in  his  final  realizations.  It  was  "the  logic  of  purified  concepts,  Platonic 
form,  beautiful  in  itself."49  By  final  realizations,  I  mean  not  only  the  works 
from  the  period  of  1930-1935  but  also  the  final  versions  of  all  the  series 
that  he  continued  to  rework  throughout  his  life  in  a  relentless  process  of 
simplification. 

Islamic  art,  it  seems,  led  Kupka  back  to  Czech  folk  art.  When  the  Musee 
des  Arts  Decoratifs  in  Paris  exhibited  Czech  folk  art  in  1926  he  valued 
this  art  above  the  contemporary  efforts  of  some  Czech  artists  to  imitate 
western  "high  art."50  Soon  thereafter  he  decorated  his  home  with  Czech 
folk  ornaments  which  he  used  on  posters  and  other  propaganda  material 
during  the  war.  In  1929  he  redecorated  his  dining  room  with  ornaments 
used  for  illustrations  of  the  Song  of  Songs  which  were  reminiscent  of  Czech 
and  Islamic  ornament. 

Kupka's  inclination  to  ornament  was  an  "atavism"  of  which  he  was 
aware.  "Following  the  art  of  any  nation  or  time,  we  can  clearly  observe 
the  typicality  of  tendency,  taste  or  unusual  attributes  that  it  expresses.  This 
is  particularly  observable  in  the  outline  of  artificially  created  forms,  as  for 
example,  in  ornament,"  wrote  Kupka.31 


figs.  9a,  9b 

Kupka,  Preparatory  sketches  for  The 

Song  of  Songs,  c.  1909,  Narodni  Galerie, 

Prague. 


Spiritism  was  responsible  for  Kupka's  lifelong  involvement  with  the  oc- 
cult and  metapsychology,  which  had  fundamental  consequences  for  his 
general  outlook  and  philosophy  of  art.  His  ability  to  function  as  a  medium 
made  him  believe  that  he  was  capable  of  insight  into  reality  inaccessible 
to  most.  He  believed  himself  endowed  with  exceptional  intuition  and  per- 
ception and  ability  for  self-observation  and  self-analysis,  which  he  con- 
sidered vital  for  the  discovery  of  the  "essence  of  reality."  He  believed  not 
only  in  transfer  of  thought  but  also  in  transfer  of  energy  and  strength.  This 
belief  was  sustained  by  Mrs.  Kupka  who  would  complain  that  when  her 
husband  exerted  himself  with  vigorous  work  he  sapped  not  his  but  her 
strength. 

Kupka  never  ceased  to  practice  spiritism,  except,  probably,  during  long 
periods  of  illness  and  in  very  old  age.52  In  the  first  years  in  Paris  he  was 
compensating  with  spiritist  seances  the  strongly  felt  external  reality  which 
overwhelmed  him  while  he  tried  to  adapt  to  it.  "Unfortunately— or  may 
it  even  be  good  luck— I  came  again  in  contact  with  the  Spiritists  .  .  .  Yester- 
day I  experienced  a  split  consciousness  where  it  seemed  I  was  observing 


46  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  p.  32. 

47  Noted  in  letters  to  Waldes,  1925. 

48  Notes  for  Tvoreni  v  umeni 
vytvarnem. 

49  Interview  with  Kupka,  Koh-i-Noor, 
Prague,  no.  41,  1933. 

50  Letter  to  Waldes,  October  zo,  1921. 

51  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  p.  iz. 

52  This  fact  has  been  repeatedly  con- 
firmed to  me  by  two  men:  the  Sym- 
bolist poet  and  astrologer  Louis 
Arnould-Gremilly,  who  was  one  of 
Kupka's  closest  friends  from  1919- 
57,  and  Jacques  Villon's  brother-in- 
law,  Jacques  Bon,  a  fervent  spiritist 
who  was  Kupka's  neighbor  from 
1906. 


the  earth  from  outside.  I  was  in  great  empty  space  and  saw  the  planets  roll- 
ing quietly.  After  that  it  was  difficult  to  come  back  to  the  trivia  of  every  day 
life  . . .  and  so  in  my  thoughts  I  seek  refuge  in  you,"53  wrote  Kupka  to  Roes- 
sler  in  1897.  In  1901  in  a  short  autobiographical  letter  he  described  the 
"discussions"  he  used  to  have  with  his  idol  Manes  and  added:  "By  the  way, 
I  do  believe  until  today  that  Manes'  ego  still  appears  from  time  to  time  in 
complete  consciousness."54  Flashes  of  colored  spots  and  lines  which  he 
described  to  his  Theosophist  friend  in  Vienna  in  1895  obsessed  him  and  he 
tried  to  capture  them.  As  late  as  1924  he  wrote  to  his  Czech  friend:  "I  can 
now  render  what  before  was  moving  in  my  spirit  like  mysterious  distant 
visions  which  I  was  unable  to  master  and  even  not  fully  to  perceive."55  He 
ascribed  this  ability  to  express  his  visions  to  his  "physical  and  spiritual 
exercise."56 

During  a  colloquium  about  Kupka  in  Prague  in  1968,  Rene  de  Solier 
discussed  Kupka's  unusually  intense  and  vivid  colors  which  had  struck 
color  technicians  at  the  time  of  Kupka's  first  abstract  paintings  and  have 
since  then  been  remarked  upon  by  many.  He  suggested  that  they  may  have 
originated  in  his  youthful  spiritistic  experiences  from  1887  to  1891.  De 
Solier  was  not  aware  that  Kupka's  spiritistic  practices  continued  well 
through  his  Vienna  and  Paris  years. 


Theosophy  as  revived  in  the  United  States  and  Europe  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century  had  strong  occult  tendencies  and  it  is  easy  to 
understand  why  the  spiritist  Kupka  was  attracted  to  its  doctrines.  From 
what  is  known  of  Kupka's  thinking,  it  is  difficult  to  conclude  that  he 
embraced  all  the  tenets  of  modern  Theosophy.  His  philosophical  outlook 
was  a  conglomerate  of  various  influences  rather  than  a  closely  knit,  unalter- 
able doctrine.  Like  the  Theosophists  he  believed  that  life  is  a  force  of 
consciousness  which  is  the  essence  of  all  things,  that  nature  manifests  itself 
rhythmically  in  geometric  structures,  which,  being  a  thing  of  beauty  can 
be  discovered  by  an  artist  endowed  with  intuition.  Thus,  there  was  in 
Kupka  a  strong  echo  of  the  Bergsonian  truth-finding  role  of  art.  Bergson's 
influence  was  remarkable  in  other  respects,  which,  however,  exceed  the 
scope  of  this  article.  The  contemporary  theory  of  the  subconscious  also 
left  its  traces  in  Kupka's  epistemology.  He  believed  in  the  absorptive 
capacity  of  the  subconscious  and  its  ability  to  greatly  enrich  man  by 
releasing  into  consciousness  that  which  it  has  absorbed.  In  his  ontology, 
Kupka  consistently  uses  Platonic  ideas.  For  Kupka  the  painter,  the  search 
for  "ideas"  of  forms  and  color  became  an  important  goal  on  his  road  to 
a  new  reality. 


53  Letter,  February  7,  1897. 

54  To  Machar,  January  2, 1902. 

55  Letter  to  Waldes,  August  16,  1914. 

56  Ibid. 

57  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvamem,  p.  63. 


Nazarenism,  in  particular,  had  a  lasting  influence  not  only  on  Kupka's 
theory  of  art  but  also  on  his  method  of  creation.  In  his  book  Kupka  dis- 
tinguishes between  two  types  of  art:  the  first  is  realistic  and  profane  and 
tends  to  represent  exterior  life;  the  second  is  based  on  speculative  thought 
and  is  manifested  through  a  combination  of  plastic  elements.  "The  latter  art 
wants  to  penetrate  the  substance  with  a  supersensitive  insight  into  the 
unknown  as  it  is  manifested  in  poetry  or  religious  art."5 


2-9 


Kupka  believed  that  he  was  atavistically  destined  for  the  second  category 
which,  in  his  youth,  was  the  art  of  the  Nazarenes.  His  painting  and  the 
philosophy  at  which  he  arrived  between  1910  and  191Z  are  the  logical 
consequence  of  this  realization.  He  recognized  the  problem  of  the  relation- 
ship between  form  and  content  in  a  work  of  art.  Manes  felt  the  incom- 
patibility between  the  poetic  content  and  the  realistic  rendering  of  his 
figures,  which  he  therefore  enveloped  with  ornament.  Ales  felt  this  incom- 
patability  even  more  strongly  and  integrated  his  figures  into  ornamental 
space.  Kupka,  in  his  solution,  transformed  the  figure  itself  into  an  orna- 
mental form. 

Kupka,  like  his  teachers,  believed  that  while  people  as  a  rule  see  nature 
globally,  an  artist  sees  it  analytically:  "We  cannot  perceive  quickly  and  at 
the  same  time  deeply  .  .  ."58  An  artist  observes  life  around  him  and  adds  to 
each  impression  images  from  his  memory.  He  associates  so  much  that  he 
is  unable  to  see  reality  clearly;  moreover,  "he  is  not  bound  to  see  things 
as  they  really  are  .  .  ."59  Kupka's  thinking  had  a  logical  consequence: 
"If  the  artist  wants  to  be  true  to  his  model  he  has  to  betray  his  vision  and 
if  he  wants  to  adhere  to  his  vision  he  has  to  distort  his  model."60  This  finally 
resulted  in  his  abandoning  the  object  as  we  see  it  and  in  recreating  it 
through  his  painter's  vision,  which  would  become,  by  his  own  definition, 
his  "New  Reality,"  governed  only  by  rhythms  and  harmony.  His  visions 
did  not  come  necessarily  from  nature;  we  can  even  say  that  they  rarely 
came  from  nature.  Like  all  the  Classicists,  Kupka  did  not  see  anything 
wrong  with  taking  inspiration  from  his  old  paintings  or  from  others  which 
he  liked.  "Impressions  from  a  work  of  art  are  normally  stronger  than  those 
from  nature.  In  art  the  last  word  is  never  pronounced.  A  work  of  art  is  in 
fact  created  only  to  inspire  another  work  of  art."61  For  Kupka,  as  for  all  the 
Nazarenes,  art  always  had  an  ethical  aim— a  mission.  He  refused  to  accept 
art  for  art's  sake.  In  Prague,  when  he  was  working  under  the  influence  of 
Manes  and  Ales  and  the  Academy,  it  was  to  achieve  and  to  communicate 
beauty  and  promote  patriotic  ideals.  In  Vienna,  under  the  influence  of 
Eastern  philosophy,  it  was  to  contemplate  and  communicate  the  truth.  To 
fight  against  the  social  order,  to  instruct  people  about  man's  evolution 
was  the  goal  of  his  illustrations  in  Paris.  Again  in  19 10  he  decided  to  com- 
municate beauty  by  way  of  his  "New  Reality."  His  constant  preoccupation 
with  the  expression  of  the  ethics  of  painting  led  to  a  continuous  process  of 
clarification  and  simplification.  He  believed  that  the  future  of  art  is  in 
clarity.62  Another  consequence  was  his  condemnation  of  a  purely  formalistic 
criticism:  "To  the  history  of  art  should  be  added  a  long  chapter  about 
psychology.  It  would  be  interesting  to  find  out  in  the  symbolic  and  relig- 
ious art  of  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia  how  much  of  his  own  the  artist  con- 
tributed to  works  that  were  suggested,  prescribed,  or  freely  inspired."63 

Typically  Nazarene  was  also  Kupka's  desire  to  create  a  painting  whose 
linear  harmony  and  color  scheme  would  produce  effects  similar  to  those 
of  music.  He  had  great  examples  in  Manes  and  Ales,  who  succeeded 
admirably  in  uniting  melody  with  form.  Not  without  reason  is  Manes'  art 
often  analyzed  in  Czechoslovakia  in  connection  with  the  music  of  Bedrich 
Smetana.  Kupka  believed,  just  as  Apollinaire  did,  that  the  Slavs  have  an 


58  Ibid.,  p.  67. 

59  Ibid.,  p.  68. 

60  Kupka,  preface,  Quatre  histoires  de 
blanc  et  noir,  Paris,  1926. 

61  Tvofeni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  pp. 
158,  173. 

62  Kupka,  "Creer,"  Vie  des  Lettres, 
Paris,  July  192.1,  p.  569. 

63  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  p.  13. 


30 


fig.  IO 

Late  Corinthian  Amphora,  Tydeus 
Killing  Ismene,  c.  560-550  B.C.  Musee 
du  Louvre. 


64  This  theory  was  developed  by  Louis 
Arnould-Gremilly  in  the  chapter 
"Orphisme  et  les  Slaves,"  of  his  book 
Frank  Kupka,  Paris,  192a,  p.  38. 

65  Richard  Weiner,  "Navstevou  u 
noveho  Frantiska  Kupky"  [Visit  to 
the  New  Kupka],  Samostatnost, 
Prague,  no.  218,  August  1912.  Re- 
printed in  Vytvarne  Umeni,  vol.  XV, 
no.  8,  Prague,  1968,  pp.  367-371. 

66  W.  Warshawsky,  "Orpheism,  Latest 
of  Painting  Cults,"  The  New  York 
Times,  New  York,  October  19, 
i9i3,p.  4. 

67  [Kupka  in  Prague:  interview], 
Svetozor,  September  1, 1936,  p.  19. 
Kupka  did  not  like  his  work,  which 
did  not  originate  in  Cubism,  to  be 
confused  with  the  Orphism  of  the 
painting  described  by  Apollinaire; 
for  him  Orphism  had  a  broader 
meaning. 

68  La  Geometrie  secrete  des  peintres, 
Paris,  1963,  p.  32. 

69  February  2,  1913. 


atavistic  characteristic  which  permits  them  to  hear  as  intensely  as  they  see.64 
He  wished  to  communicate  the  stirring  of  the  spirit  he  experienced  upon 
hearing  music.  "Kupka  wants  painting  to  sound  like  music,"  wrote  the 
Czech  poet  Richard  Weiner  after  visiting  the  artist  in  Paris  in  19 12.65  "I  am 
still  groping  in  the  dark,  but  I  believe  I  can  find  something  between  sight 
and  hearing  and  I  can  produce  a  fugue  in  colors  as  Bach  has  done  in  music," 
Kupka  repeated  in  1913,  one  year  after  exhibiting  his  Amorpha,  Fugue  in 
the  Salon  d'Automne.66 

Greek  art  again— classical  this  time— confirmed  the  Nazarenes'  theory 
about  the  role  of  art  and  the  analogy  between  painting  and  music.  It  was 
Kupka's  guide  in  Paris  when  he  decided  to  abandon  completely  what  he 
saw  and  paint  again  only  what  he  felt.  He  remembered  later:  "It  was  in 
1911,  I  created  my  own  uniquely  'abstract'  way  of  painting,  Orphism, 
disregarding  all  other  cultural  systems  except  that  of  Greece."67  "The  per- 
fect example  of  a  melodic  composition  is  the  frieze  of  the  Panathenaea  in 
the  Parthenon.  There  plastic  art  approaches  music  the  closest,"  writes 
Charles  Bouleau,68  accompanying  his  photographs  with  a  line  of  musical 
notes  to  show  that  the  procession  of  a  frieze  creates  a  movement  which 
develops  in  time  as  well  as  in  space.  Kupka  spent  many  years  contemplating 
Greek  friezes  in  stone  and  on  vases,  in  museums  and  in  photographs.  As 
late  as  1913  he  wrote  to  Roessler:  "They  did  not  paint  the  countryside  or 
the  trees,  and  even  the  human  body  was  for  them  an  'ensemble'  of  beautiful 
lines  and  forms.  Their  reliefs  are  Sundays  they  left  to  us."6' 

Kupka  was  intensely  interested  in  stained  glass.  His  lasting  interest  in 
color  penetrated  by  light  led  him  to  install  a  stained  glass  window  in  a 
corner  of  his  studio  soon  after  moving  to  his  own  house  in  1906.  It  remained 


3i 


there  until  his  death.  A  Czech  critic,  after  discussing  Orphism  with  Kupka, 
stated  that  the  two  stained  glass  windows  in  Notre  Dame  were  the  probable 
inspiration  for  Kupka's  first  Orphic  experiments  in  1911.70  Kupka  himself 
described  the  "vertiginous  musicality  of  color"71  of  the  Saint  Germain- 
L'Auxerrois  and  Notre  Dame  windows  in  his  book.  He  often  visited 
Chartres  with  his  students,  where,  as  they  remembered,  they  would  spend 
the  entire  day,  borrow  a  ladder  and  study  the  colored  windows  on  the  basis 
of  Kupka's  notes.72  Because  of  his  master-class  work  on  cartoons  for  Bo- 
hemian churches,  Kupka  already  was  familiar  with  the  mosaic-like  process 
of  assembling  stained  glass  compositions  out  of  geometric  elements,  a 
process  which  encouraged  an  abstract,  ornamental  style  and  tended  to 
resist  any  attempt  to  render  a  three-dimensional  effect.  Kupka  loved  the 
mystical,  continuous  light  of  stained  glass  and  used  to  show  his  students 
the  uselessness  of  the  details  added  in  black  on  the  glass  surface.  His  desire 
to  capture  the  "vertiginous  musicality"  and  spirituality  of  stained  glass  led 
him  to  create  The  Cathedral  of  191 3. 

Greek  art  and  cathedrals  also  confirmed  Kupka  in  his  belief  in  the  appli- 
cability of  mathematical  calculation  to  art.  He  had  a  complete  knowledge 
of  Golden  Section  measurement,73  which  was  part  of  the  Nazarene  teaching 
and  which  was  abandoned  by  the  Realists,  and,  of  course,  by  the  Impres- 
sionists who  were  guided  by  the  "eye." 

The  builders  of  Gothic  cathedrals  were  men  of  feeling  only  to  a  certain  degree, 
but  they  were  above  all  mathematicians  .  .  .  look  at  the  Doric  temples,  even  the 
Ionic,  and  your  blood  circulation  steps  up  rhythmically,  putting  you  in  a  Sunday 
mood. ...  7/  the  Egyptians  thought,  the  Greeks  measured  .  .  PA 
We  must  start  completely  anew.  .  .  .  When  ive  draw  a  line,  a  dot,  it  should  sit 
so  correctly  in  space  that  one  has  the  impression  that  it  is  an  event,  that  some- 
thing has  happened.  The  same  for  color.  The  whole  immobility  of  a  work,  not 
the  dynamics  of  the  futurists,  who  are  lyrically  inclined  and  try  to  track  down 
nature  by  experimenting  with  a  style  of  action.75 

For  Kupka  art  gives  pleasure  by  satisfying  an  instinct  for  harmony,  which 
derives  from  line,  form  and  color;  its  principle  is  proportion  and  its  chief 
aim  is  the  communication  of  beauty. 

Kupka's  method  of  painting  was  also  Nazarene.  "I  start  to  paint  only 
when  I  can  clearly  visualize  my  product,"76  he  wrote  in  1901.  "Creation  in 
art  starts  with  a  vision,"77  he  reaffirmed  after  spending  thirty  more  years  in 
the  French  capital.  When  Kupka's  vision  was  clearly  defined  in  his  mind,  he 
made  a  small  schematic  drawing.  Then  he  made  dozens  of  studies  from 
nature  or  other  works  of  art.  Even  during  his  most  abstract  period  he  used 
these  studies,  but  they  were  only  his  "dictionary,"  never  his  inspiration.  He 
used  a  microscope  to  see  the  unknown,  a  kaleidoscope  to  see  the  unusual,  a 
fan,  accordion  shapes,  and  later,  even  perhaps  a  camera  to  capture  move- 
ment. As  he  used  to  cut  and  add  arms  to  a  figure  to  find  a  more  ideal  form 
in  his  book  illustrations,  he  would  later  cut  a  figure  into  strips  to  give  it  a 
feeling  of  progression  and  use  translucent  paper  to  multiply  the  same  shape 
many  times  to  suggest  a  melody.  "One  has  to  work  on  a  problem  for  years 
in  order  to  be  able  to  produce  a  sketch,  a  viable  study,"78  he  wrote  to  his 
friend  in  1913. 


70  B.S.  Urban,  "Kupkuv  Orphismus," 
Cesta,  January  28, 1928. 

71  Tvofeni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  p.  no. 

72  Information  furnished  by  Kupka's 
Parisian  students  Milos  Holy,  Vac- 
lav Fiala,  Richard  Wiesner  and  Jan 
Mehl  in  conversations  with  the  au- 
thor, Prague,  Summer  1967. 

73  The  question  of  whether  Kupka 
participated  in  the  Salon  de  la 
Section  d'Or  has  been  raised  (see 
this  catalogue,  pp.  310-n,  fn.  6). 
However  to  this  author's  knowl- 
edge, no  one  has  so  far  investigated 
to  what  extent  Kupka  influenced  his 
Puteaux  neighbors  to  use  the 
Golden  Section.  Jacques  Villon  has 
been  credited  with  its  introduction. 
But,  as  Charles  Bouleau  has  pointed 
out,  in  La  Geometrie  secrete  des 
Peintres,  Paris,  19S3,  p.  96,  the  idea 
of  the  Golden  Section  penetrated  to 
France  from  Germany  and  Prague. 
It  seems  likely,  therefore,  that 
Kupka  with  his  long  academic 
training  in  Vienna  and  Prague, 
would  have  taken  an  active  part  in 
the  discussions  of  the  Puteaux 
group.  During  the  opening  of 
Kupka's  retrospective  at  the  Musee 
National  d'Art  Moderne  in  Paris  in 
1958,  the  aged  and  visibly  moved 
Villon  admired  the  paintings  of  his 
now  dead  friend.  He  said  several 
times  to  me  "Kupka  etait  un  grand 
peintre,  c'etait  mon  maitre,  j'ai 
beaucoup  appris  de  lui."  (Kupka 
was  a  great  painter,  he  was  my 
teacher,  I  learned  a  great  deal  from 
him.) 

74  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  18, 
1913. 

75  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  2,  1913. 

76  Letter  to  Machar,  March  22,  1901. 

77  Letter  to  Waldes,  February  9,  1930. 

78  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  18, 
1913. 


79  Kupka  did  not  hesitate  to  use  a 
model  in  a  bathtub  installed  in  his 
garden  when  he  wanted  to  correct 
the  play  of  light  and  lines  on  mov- 
ing water.  He  even  studied  preserves 
cooking  in  order  to  imagine  or 
correct  his  vision  of  matter  or 
thoughts  ascending.  There  are  many 
errors  of  interpretation  of  these 
incidents  as  related  by  Mme. 
Kupka,  such  as  the  statement  "from 
as  ordinary  a  sight  as  a  collection 

of  jam  jars  Kupka  drew  a  grandiose 
composition  which  evokes  Indian 
architecture,"  (Fedit,  op.  cit.,  p.  73) 
or  that  "a  moving  curtain  became 
Ordonnance  sur  verticales"  (Lud- 
mila  Vachtova,  Kupka:  Pioneer  of 
Abstract  Art,  New  York,  1968, 
p.  104.) 

80  Tvoreni  v  utneni  vytvarnem,  p.  63. 

81  Ibid.,  p.  196. 
82.  Ibid.,  p.  147. 

83  Letter  to  Waldes,  August  16, 1914. 

84  Louis  Sullivan,  Kindergarten  Chats 
and  Other  Writings,  New  York, 
1947,  p.  189. 


Like  all  the  Nazarenes,  Kupka  always  verified  his  visions  in  front  of  a 
model  and  corrected  them  to  achieve  the  right  proportions.79  He  believed 
that  "in  order  to  make  the  outer  expression  of  an  idea,  a  feeling  or  an  expe- 
rience intelligible,  it  is  necessary  to  give  it  the  structure  of  objective  na- 
ture."80 "Great  art  consists  of ...  a  selection  from  the  subjective  world . . .  we 
captivate  the  viewer  only  when  the  organism  he  is  presented  with  is  coher- 
ent."81 Sometimes  he  would  work  directly  with  the  already  conceptualized 
forms.  "Each  work  brings  an  experience.  .  .  .  The  balance  of  proportions 
becomes  a  habit  .  .  .  and  the  artist  becomes  a  happy  master  of  the  spatial 
structure.  . .  ."82  The  best  example  of  this  stylization  from  his  own  old  pic- 
tures, without  corrections  from  nature,  is  his  series  Quatre  histoires  de  blanc 
et  noir,  woodcuts  and  many  gouaches  done  at  the  same  time  to  "prove  the 
possibility  of  real  creation  without  transforming  nature."83  They  are  also 
the  best  examples  of  a  work  in  which  Kupka  suddenly  used  his  great  com- 
mand of  ornamentation  and  arabesque  surface— like  Dvorak,  who  com- 
posed his  Slavonic  dances  inspired  by  folk  melodies,  as  if  for  his  own 
pleasure  after  completing  work  on  a  symphony. 

When  Kupka  completed  the  final  study  for  a  painting,  he  covered  the 
canvas  with  carefully  calculated  geometric  lines  which  indicated  the  most 
important  points  of  the  painting's  structure.  Kupka's  statements  in  his  book 
indicate  clearly  that  in  the  course  of  such  procedures— in  enlarging  or  re- 
ducing a  figurative  study— in  his  pre-abstract  period,  he  realized  that  figures 
were  unnecessary  to  express  his  vision,  that  it  was  the  geometric  structure, 
the  "skeleton,"  as  he  called  it,  which  fascinated  him,  because  it  contained 
the  principle  of  beauty,  the  harmony  and  melody  of  the  painting.  From 
that  point  on,  it  was  merely  a  question  of  time  until  he  could  faithfully  exe- 
cute his  paintings  according  to  his  vision. 

Czech  and  Viennese  Secession  marked  Kupka's  thinking  and  style  for  his 
entire  life.  One  constantly  used  argument  that  Kupka  could  not  have  been 
influenced  by  the  Viennese  Secession  is  that  Klimt's  Philosophy  was  ex- 
hibited at  Vienna  University  only  in  1900,  when  Kupka  was  already  in  Paris. 
However,  we  know  that  he  saw  the  painting  that  same  year,  exhibited  in 
Paris  much  more  prominently  than  it  had  been  in  Vienna.  At  the  Paris 
World's  Fair  Philosophy  received  a  prize  of  honor.  Kupka  often  visited  the 
exhibition  where  his  compatriots  were  amply  represented.  His  friend  Al- 
phons  Mucha  (1860-1939)  decorated  the  section  of  Bosnia  Herzegovina. 
Ales,  with  other  Czech  Secessionists,  decorated  the  interior  of  the  Czech 
section,  and  Kupka  himself  exhibited  his  painting  Bibliomane  and,  like 
Klimt,  received  a  prize  of  honor.  Both  the  Czech  and  the  Viennese  section 
were  decorated  by  architects  and  painters  in  a  spirit  of  Gesamtktmstiuerk 
(collective  art).  Their  collaboration  was  the  logical  consequence  of  the 
original  Nazarenes'  need  to  decorate  great  surfaces.  There  was  also  an 
awareness  that  "there  exists  a  particular  sympathy  between  ornament  and 
structure,  each  enhancing  the  value  of  the  other."8"1  Kupka  could  again  com- 
pare the  structural  and  symbolic  ornamentation  of  Ales  and  the  Czech 
Secessionists,  who  were  in  turn  strongly  influenced  by  folk  art,  with  the 
simple  exterior  decorations  of  the  new  Viennese  ornament.  The  Viennese 


33 


I 


fig.  II 

Hoffmann,  Architectural  relief  executed 
for  14.  Austellung  Secession,  Vienna, 
1902,  Bildarchiv  der  Nationalbibliothek, 
Vienna 


architects  also  revealed  something  new  which  seems  to  have  influenced 
Kupka  profoundly.  The  Viennese  room,  decorated  by  Josef  Hoffmann 
(1870-1956)  in  strictly  geometrical,  simple  lines,  was  a  sensation  in  Paris, 
which  was  still  full  of  the  undulating  lines  of  French  Art  Nouveau.  It  was 
called  the  most  modern  expression  of  that  time.85  Comparison  of  the  vertical 
planes  of  Kupka's  abstract  period  with  photographs  of  Hoffmann's  interior 
and  exterior  architectural  plans,  which  were  reproduced  in  every  German 
and  Czech  art  review,  makes  strong  similarities  obvious;  Kupka's  debt  to 
Secessionist  architecture  in  his  later  years  in  Paris  becomes  irrefutable. 
Structure  as  a  complete  artistic  expression  in  itself,  without  ornament,  an 
architecture  which  drew  its  expressive  forms  from  the  subjective  world  en- 
chanted Kupka.  He  compared  it  to  music.  "They  both  have  the  same  great 
advantage  in  comparison  to  painting— and  even  to  poetry  he  writes,  "they 
draw  their  expressive  forms  from  excitement  and  thoughts  which  they  de- 
velop in  abstraction.  The  architect  doesn't  copy  natural  sounds  .  .  .  both 
architecture  and  music  are  superior  because  they  are  able  to  express  the 
inexpressible,  to  which  we  are  sensitive. "SA  Kupka  ascribes  the  excitement 
and  emotions  we  feel  contemplating  beautiful  architecture  to  perfect  pro- 
portions, rightly  evaluated  and  to  the  calculated  divisions  of  all  planes.  He 
created  his  first  abstractions  under  the  inspiration  of  both  these  arts- 
architecture  and  music.  He  wanted  to  create  as  they  do,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  "to  give  us  joy,  a  sense  of  beauty."87 

Kupka's  departure  from  Vienna  should  not  be  interpreted  as  a  separa- 
tion from  the  Austrian  scene.  Not  only  did  he  maintain  contact  with  Vienna 
through  German  and  Austrian  art  reviews,  but  he  was  kept  informed  by 
Arthur  Roessler,  by  his  other  close  friend  living  in  Vienna,  the  Czech  poet 
Josef  Machar  (1864-1942)  and  especially  by  his  constant  companion  in 
Paris,  K.  E.  Schmidt,  Austrian  and  German  correspondent  for  Ver  Sacrum, 


85  Ver  Sacrum  1900;  Deutsche  Kunst 
und  Dekoration,  1900,  p.  460. 

86  Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  pp. 
197-198. 

87  Letter  to  Waldes,  December  zi, 
1920. 


34 


fig.  IZ 

Kupka,  Blue  and  Red  Vertical  Planes, 
1913,  Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris. 


88  See  Ver  Sacrum,  no.  iz,  1900;  Volne 
Smery,  Prague,  1901,  p.  48;  Zeit, 
Vienna,  June  3,  1908. 

89  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  18, 
1913. 

90  Letter  to  Roessler,  August  14,  1896. 
90a  Album  Frant.  Kupka,  Caslav,  1905. 

91  Letter  to  Machar,  April  Z4,  1905. 


Deutsche  Kunst  urid  Dekoration,  Meister  der  Farbe,  among  others.  In  1901 
Kupka  was  back  in  Vienna  visiting  his  friends,  at  a  time  when  the  Secession- 
ist movement  was  nourishing  and  very  much  in  evidence  in  Vienna.  He 
exhibited  with  the  Secessionists  in  Vienna  in  1900,  1901,  1903,  and  again  in 
1908. 88  Except  for  Koloman  Moser,  one  of  the  principal  members  of  the 
Secessionist  group,  it  is  not  known  which  artists  of  the  Viennese  Secession 
he  knew  personally. 

In  1913,  he  was  still  thinking  a  great  deal  about  the  Secession  philosophy: 
"Your  article  about  Secession  came  just  in  time.  I  am  thinking  about  several 
problems  underlined  by  you."89 

For  many  years  Kupka's  thoughts,  his  opinions  about  art,  his  longings, 
seemed  to  race  ahead  of  their  incarnation  in  his  works.  In  certain  periods  his 
paintings,  drawings  and  illustrations  appeared  to  be  a  retrogression  from 
his  line  of  evolution.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Paris  he  prophesied  on  his 
encounter  with  French  Realism:  "Realism  is  overpowering  here;  people  in 
the  streets  are  very  colorful . . .  but  even  if  I  sometimes  struggle  with  realism, 
I  know  that  I  will  remain  a  fantasist."90  However,  he  temporarily  lost  some 
ground  in  his  struggle,  especially  from  1905  to  1909  when  he  settled  into  a 
bourgeois  life  with  Nini,  and  when  symbol  more  and  more  gave  way  to 
reality.  He  painted  portraits,  some  still  lifes,  flowers  and  even  landscapes. 
He  considered  none  of  it  worth  including  in  the  album  of  reproductions 
published  by  K.  E.  Schmidt  in  Bohemia  in  1905,  nor  in  any  of  his  many  ex- 
hibitions there.90a 

His  book  illustrations  often  reveal  a  tendency  toward  compromise  with 
current  taste.  He  sometimes  places  three  dimensional,  realistic  figures  in  the 
midst  of  abstract,  flat  ornament  producing  a  striking  impression  of  incon- 
gruity. And  yet,  at  the  same  time,  in  his  studio,  almost  clandestinely,  he  was 
already  working  on  a  different  concept  of  art.  He  said  in  a  letter  to  Machar: 
"It  seems  unnecessary  to  paint  trees  when  people  see  more  beautiful  ones 
on  the  way  to  the  exhibition.  I  paint,  but  only  concepts  . . .  syntheses,  chords 
. . .  but  this  I  do  only  for  myself.  I  am  not  anxious  to  show  it. . .  ."9I 


35 


tes  chevreaux  pres  des  tentes  des  bergers. 

A  la  jument  attelee  au  char  de  Pharaon. 
je  te  compare.  Bien-Aimee. 

Que  tes  joues  sont  belles  dans  les  perles. 
Ion  cou  dans  les  colliers  ! 

Nous  te  ferons  des  colliers  dor,  poinlilles 
d  argent. 

Tandis  que  le  Roi  etait  sur  son  divan, 
mon  nard  a  repandu  son  parfum. 

Un  sachet  de  myrrhe  posi  entre  mes 
seins.  tel  est  pour  moi  mon  Bien-Aime. 

Une  grappe  de  cypre  des  vignes  d  En 
Guedi.  tel  est  pour  moi  mon  Bien-Aime. 


fig- 13 

Kupka,  page  from  The  Song  of  Songs, 
192.8,  prepared  1905-09,  Narodnf 
Galerie,  Prague. 


The  year  1909  seems  to  have  been  the  time  of  breaking  away  from  com- 
promise if  not  yet  the  time  of  breakthrough.  His  illustrations  for  Prome- 
theus show  a  complete  renunciation  of  three-dimensionality.  It  was  a  trying 
year  and  he  complained:  "Life  is  full  of  difficulties;  1  am  uprooted,  and  in 
spite  of  my  already  long  sojourn  here,  I  am  still  a  stranger."92  But  only  a 
year  later  he  wrote  to  the  same  friend  in  Austria: 

Even  here,  for  years  1  had  been  a  hungry  soul,  a  soldier  in  the  large  army  of 
great  and  small  artists,  until  at  last— but  better  late  than  never— I  have  gamed 
consciousness  and  now  I  stand  hale  and  hearty  before  myself.  The  moment  has 
come  for  me  to  write,  draw  and  paint  my  credo.  In  the  last  month  1  have  de- 
stroyed much  of  my  work.  .  .  .  looked  at  carefully,  they  were  mostly  tumors 
remaining  from  my  bad  times.  1  know  them  well  and  the  sterner  I  am  with  my- 
self the  more  easily  I  overcome  everything  that  could  hold  me  back,  for  I  am 
boiling  inside  and  although  artistically  1  am  gladly  once  again  a  youth,  as  we 
were— do  you  remember?  .  .  .  both  excited  by  a  concert .  .  .  was  not  our  excite- 
ment then  a  thing  of  beauty?^' 

To  express  the  emotion  provoked  by  beauty  will  now  become  the  aim  upon 
which  he  will  concentrate  his  effort.  And  because  he  believed  that  music  and 
architecture  were  the  two  arts  capable  of  expressing  those  emotions  auton- 
omously, he  will  try  to  follow  their  example  in  creating  his  new  art.  His 
preoccupation  with  symbolically  expressing  his  ideas  changed  into  a  preoc- 
cupation with  symbolically  expressing  the  perception  of  the  form  itself. 
"Formerly  I  was  seeking  to  give  form  to  an  idea,  now  I  am  seeking  the  idea 
which  corresponds  to  the  form."94  He  realized  that  "the  viewer  doesn't  re- 
member the  idea  expressed  in  an  art  work.  The  action  of  plastic  elements 


92  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  z,  1909. 

93  Letter  to  Roessler,  October  6,  1910. 

94  Notes  for  Tvoreni  v  umeni 
vytvarnetn. 


36 


fig.  14 

Kupka,  Prometheus,  prepared  1909-10. 


95  Ibid. 

96  For  example,  the  Viennese  theme  of 
the  movement  of  the  human  spirit 
toward  light  expressed  in  Hymn  to 
the  Universe,  1S95,  and  Toward 
Luminous  Heights,  1895,  's  con" 
tinued  in  such  work  as  The 
Cathedral,  1913,  Blue  Scaffolding, 
1919,  Hindu  Motif,  1921-25,  Rising, 
1913.  Again,  the  Viennese  theme  of 
Ouam  ad  Causum  Sumus,  1894, 
representing  the  creation  of  the 
world  according  to  the  Theosophic 
concepts  of  the  evolution  of  life 
from  vegetable  to  animal  to  human, 
is  taken  up  in  Creation,  and  Cosmic 
Spring,  both  1911-20.  The  visions 
of  immortality  which  absorbed 
him  in  Vienna  are  also  reflected  in 
The  Living  Oval  (also  called  £gg), 
1911-10,  Lines,  Planes,  Depths  (also 
called  Black  Uterus  by  Kupka  in 
1946),  192.0-12,  and  the  Moving 
Blues  series  of  1923-31.  The  more 
humorous  view  of  human  life  as  a 
market  place  is  represented  in  The 
Fair,  1920-21. 

97  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  2, 
1913. 


which  act  upon  the  viewer  and  put  him  in  a  particular  mood  contribute  to 
the  development  of  the  idea  itself."95  He  believed  that  in  finding  the  true 
substance  of  the  form  he  would  understand  the  substance  of  life  itself.  He 
would  create  a  "new  reality"  which  would  be  governed  entirely  by  harmony 
and  beauty.  The  artist's  heightened  consciousness  is  transferred  through  the 
work  of  art  to  the  viewer  and  ignites  his  own  consciousness.  The  new  real- 
ity, created  by  the  artist,  is  destined  to  enrich  and  elevate  man.  Yet,  a  great 
number  of  Kupka's  paintings  belie  the  concept  of  a  mere  search  for  beauty 
and  harmony,  not  that  they  show  an  absence  of  painstaking  effort  to  find 
form  and  color,  but  because  they  bear  a  deep  imprint  of  their  meditative 
origin.96  Throughout  his  abstract  period,  Kupka's  work  shows  the  dualism 
of  the  meditative  and  the  classicist-aesthetic  concepts.  This  dualism  may  be 
followed  in  the  appendices  to  the  present  text. 

The  years  between  1910  and  1913,  though  they  were  not  free  of  anxieties, 
doubts  and  even  moments  of  despair,  were  Kupka's  heroic  years  in  which  he 
drew  and  painted  his  credo  and  wrote  his  book.  Early  in  1913,  he  wrote  a 
cheerful,  self-confident  letter  to  Roessler,  despite  the  unfavorable  reception 
of  his  work  in  Paris.  "Paintings  I  exhibited  recently  are  called  Flanes  by 
Colors,  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two  Colors,  'Warm  Chromatics,  etc.  All  in  all 
what  I  am  seeking  now  are  symphonies.  Do  you  remember  the  'color  sym- 
phonist.'  You  can't  imagine  the  derision  I  have  to  put  up  with  .  .  ."  Kupka 
was  amused  by  the  puzzled  viewer's  questions:  "What  does  it  represent?" 
"What  is  it  supposed  to  be?"  and  answered  himself  with  a  sarcastic  rhet- 
orical question:  "Must  then  a  work  of  art  represent  something?"97  Ques- 
tions and  answers  repeated  thousand  of  times  since.  .  .  . 


37 


SERIES  I:  PREVAILING  INSPIRATION:  SEARCH  FOR  BEAUTIFUL  FORM 


ia 

Manes,  Calendar  Plate.  1865-66.  Oil. 

Muzeum  Mesta,  Prague. 
A  decorative,  monumental  figure  of 
a  girl  walking  gracefully,  represents 
Balance.  The  circle  which  encloses 
the  girl  echoes  and  emphasizes  the 
figure's  motion  and  is  thus  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  composition. 

2a 

Kupka,  Girl  with  a  Hoop.  c.  1903-05. 
Pencil  and  watercolor.  Bibliotheque 
Nationale,  Paris. 

This  is  one  of  a  series  of  composi- 
tions in  which  Kupka  used  a  circle 
and  flowing  robes  to  emphasize 
fluidity  of  movement. 

3a 

Kupka,  Study  for  Amorpba,  Fugue  in 
Two  Colors.  19 1 2.  Gouache.  The 
Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York. 

The  dancer  is  schematized  into  an 
entirely  abstract  pattern  representing 
pure  rhythmic  movement.  Here  the 
circle  is  fully  integrated  with  the 
composition. 


2a 


38 


4a 

Kupka,  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors,  lyiz.  Oil.  Narodnf  Galerie, 
Prague. 

This  is  the  final  and  strongly  defined 
result  of  the  studies.  Kupka  has  at- 
tained what  he  calls  the  "new 
reality." 


5a 

Kupka,  Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in 
Two  Colors.  1912..  Pencil.  The 
Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York. 

The  same  form  is  stylized  into  un- 
interrupted flowing  lines. 


6a 

Kupka,  Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue 
in  Two  Colors.  After  1917.  Gouache. 
The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York. 

Kupka  further  stylizes  this  motif  by 
eliminating  lines  not  essential  to  the 
basic  rhythm. 

7a 

Kupka,  Composition.  1947-50.  Oil. 
Collection  P.P.,  Paris. 

Years  later  Kupka  used  elements  of 
these  two  series  to  create  a  new  form 
which  now  no  longer  suggests  either 
music  or  dance. 


6a 

.    -**'.  M~"' 

kS 

m       m. 

fc 

w\ 

—     •-. 

Continued 


39 


SERIES  1:  Continued 


ib,  2b,  3b 

Kupka,  Studies  for  Lines,  Planes, 
Spaces,  c.  1912.  Pencil.  The  Museum 
of  Modern  Art,  New  York. 

Another  series  depicting  schematized 
dancing  motion.  In  the  second,  the 
elements  are  disconnected,  depriving 
the  figure  of  its  cohesiveness.  In  the 
third,  the  intersecting  curves,  which 
form  the  visual  center  of  gravity  in 
the  final  painting,  are  established. 


4b 

Kupka,  Study  for  Lines,  Planes, 
Spaces,  c.  191 2.  Woodcut.  Narodnf 
Galerie,  Prague. 


2b 


40 


5b 

Kupka,  Lines,  Planes,  Spaces.  19 13- 

22..  Oil.  Private  Collection. 

Both  are  part  of  a  series  which  occu- 
pied Kupka  intensely.  In  it  he 
attempted  to  express  the  progression 
of  music  in  time  through  the  use  of 
melodious,  multicolored  lines  pro- 
jected in  space,  echoed  by  smaller 
background  lines.  The  center  of 
gravity  was  determined  according  to 
the  rule  of  the  Golden  Section. 

6b 

Kupka,  Study  for  Lines,  Planes, 
Spaces  III.  c.  1913-23.  The  Museum 
of  Modern  Art,  New  York 

7b 

Kupka,  Lines,  Planes,  Spaces  III. 

c.  1923  [reworked  1934].  Oil.  Musee 

National  d'Art  Moderne,  Paris. 

This  is  a  simplification  of  the  same 
theme,  dated  ten  years  later  than 
Study  for  Lines,  Planes,  Spaces  and 
Lines,  Planes,  Spaces. 


6b   i»«j 


4i 


SERIES  II:  PREVAILING  INSPIRATION:  METAPHYSICAL  QUESTIONS 

This  is  one  of  many  of  Kupka's  series  of  the  Viennese  period  concerning  metaphysical  questions. 
Quam  ad  Causum  Sumus?  (What  is  our  purpose?) 


ia 
ib 


ia 

Enigma  of  Life.  Vienna,  1894. 
Charcoal. 

This  allegory  depicts  the  circle  of  life 
with  figures  swept  by  a  current  of 
water  and  two  figures  of  women,  one 
of  which  probably  represents 
Minerva  with  the  masks  of  science 
and  wisdom,  the  other  life  and  death. 
The  scene  is  dominated  by  a  mys- 
terious sphinx. 


Rhythm  of  History.  Paris,  c.  1905. 
Charcoal  and  india  ink  over  print. 
Narodnf  Galerie,  Prague. 

Here  Kupka  focuses  upon  one  of  the 
elements  of  the  Enigma— the  figures 
carried  by  water— and  elaborates  the 
curves  of  the  waves  and  the  bodies  of 
a  man  and  woman  swept  by  the 
current. 


Hadanka  zivota. 


33 

Moving  Blues  II.  1922-36.  Oil. 
Narodnf  Galerie,  Prague. 

The  painter  retains  the  abstracted 
bodies  of  a  man  and  a  woman  in  an 
erotic  pose,  apparently  in  water,  and 
repeats  the  curves  of  breaking  waves. 
The  rising  oval  shape  suggests  the 
idea  of  creation. 


42 


- 

i 

""■■^vSh 

■-                                                                                               1 

&w»  v 

PSPv 

■fc. 

E?iigma  of  Life.  Vienna,  1894. 

zb 

Meditation.  Paris,  1899.  Charcoal  on 
paperboard.  Galerie  Ostrava. 

A  kneeling  man— representing  Kupka 
himself— faces  a  snow  covered,  sun- 
lit mountain  with  a  dark  barrier  in 
front  of  it,  both  of  which  are  reflected 
in  water. 

3b 

Black  Idol  or  Defiance.  Paris,  1900. 

Colored  aquatint.  Narodni  Galerie, 

Prague. 

Here  Kupka  symbolizes  man's  meta- 
physical fear  with  three  figures:  a 
gigantic,  dark,  horrifying  deity  which 
seems  to  grow  out  of  the  mountain 
seen  in  the  previous  picture;  a 
petrified,  probably  human  form;  a 
diminutive,  helpless  man— a  barely 


discernible  light  vertical— again  iso- 
lated by  dark  currents  of  water.  The 
painting  represents  Kupka's  evolu- 
tion in  this  series,  sometimes  called 
Land  of  Dreams,  away  from  the  use 
of  mythological  allegory  to  express 
emotion.  Ultimately,  Kupka  will  also 
reject  figurative  symbolism  as  a 
means  of  expressing  his  metaphysical 
anxieties. 

4b 

Study  for  Quam  ad  Causum  Sumus. 
1900-03.  Color  etching  and  aquatint. 
Narodni  Galerie,  Prague. 

The  impassable  water  of  Meditation 
and  Defiance  is  replaced  here  by  an 
endless  road  flanked  by  Sphinxes 
asking  the  unanswerable  questions. 


4a 

Moving  Blues,  c.  19Z5-Z7.  Oil.  Col- 
lection P.P.,  Paris. 

The  same  figures  are  depicted, 
abstracted  even  further,  almost  to  the 
point  of  ornamentation. 


Continued 


43 


SERIES  II:  Continued 


Histoire  Contemporaine.  c.  1905. 
Charcoal  with  india  ink.  Narodni 
Galerie,  Prague.  Study  for  Elisee 
Reclus,  L'Homme  et  la  terre. 

This  academic  representation  of  a 
family  looking  toward  the  bright 
horizon  of  the  Promised  Land  sym- 
bolizes the  future  of  humanity.  The 
composition's  rhythmic  forms 
already  suggest  a  geometric  simpli- 
fication of  planes. 

zc  and  3  c 

Studies  for  Organization  of  Graphic 
Motifs.  1910-13.  Pencil.  The  Museum 
of  Modern  Art,  New  York. 

Here  the  figures  represented  in 
Histoire  contemporaine  are  freed  of 
inessential  elements  and  integrated 
into  a  new  rhythmic  form. 


m 


♦ 


',       A^^oVttC^ 


Uvres.  QwaswSna 


■"3~T~^ 


HiSTORl.  cc 


44 


4C 


4C 

Study  for  Organization  of  Graphic 
Motifs.  1910-13.  Pencil.  The  Museum 
of  Modern  Art,  New  York. 

The  same  "new  reality"  revealed  in 
the  preceding  drawings  in  integrated 
into  a  plastic  space  which  is  defined 
entirely  by  the  intensity  of  lines  and 
planes. 


5C 

Organization  of  Graphic  Motifs  I. 
1912.-13.  Oil.  Collection  Royal  S. 
Marks  Gallery,  New  York. 

6c 

Study,  Organization  of  Graphic 
Motifs,  c.  1913.  Pastel,  Private 
Collection. 

A  totem-like  figure  derived  from  the 
family  group  in  Histoire  contem- 
poraine  perhaps  symbolizes  mankind. 
This  figure  is  placed  in  a  space  similar 
in  structure  to  the  space  which  sur- 
rounds men  contemplating  their 
metaphysical  dilemmas  in  Meditation 
and  Study  for  Quam  ad  Causum 
Samus. 


5C 


45 


46 


FRANTISEK  KUPKA: 

A  METAPHYSICS  OF  ABSTRACTION 

Margit  Rowell 


I  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  z,  1913, 
Collection  Wiener  Stadtbibliothek, 
Vienna.  The  author  is  indebted  to 
Meda  Mladek  for  bringing  these 
letters  to  her  attention. 


Kupka  witnessed  the  birth  of  Cubism  in  Paris,  but  he  never  identified  him- 
self with  it  or  any  other  movement.  On  February  2, 19 13,  the  artist  wrote  to 
Arthur  Roessler  of  his  dissatisfaction  at  being  labeled  one  of  the  Cubists  and 
having  his  work  exhibited  with  them:  "In  the  last  Salon  d'Automne  I  had  a 
beautiful  place  of  honor,  unfortunately  in  the  room  with  the  Cubists  with 
whom  I  am  almost  on  a  parallel.  It  is  with  me  as  it  was  with  Degas,  who  was 
classified  as  an  Impressionist."  In  a  continuation  of  the  same  letter,  dated 
February  5,  he  wrote,  obviously  referring  to  Cubist-type  painting:  "[one] 
arrives  at  deformers:  neoarchaics  and  neo-primitivists.  You  may  have  seen 
them  in  German  exhibitions  of  Picasso's  followers  who  cherish  not  only 
rigidity  of  line  but  rigidity  of  vision;  who  hate  the  color  of  the  sun-loving 
Impressionists  because  ten  years  ago  Picasso  developed  a  new  palette  ...  I 
know  the  Parisian  followers  of  Picasso,  the  Cubists,  personally.  I  do  not 
encourage  their  visits  and  I  do  not  visit  them  either.  I  live  like  a  hermit .  .  . 
woods  and  meadows  around  me,  and  I  see  many  things  in  a  tiny  patch  of 
grass,  much  more  than  in  any  exhibition."1 

This  rejection  of  Cubism  is  significant,  for  France  was  Kupka's  country  of 
choice  and  Cubism  was  France's  dominant  art  form  at  the  time  Kupka's 
own  expression  began  to  mature,  from  about  1909-13.  From  1900,  one  of 
Kupka's  closest  Parisian  friends  was  Jacques  Villon.  Other  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances included  Duchamp- Villon,  Duchamp,  Picabia,  Gleizes,  Met- 
zinger,  Leger,  Apollinaire.  If  any  generation  referred  to  Cubism  for  the 
formulation  of  its  vision,  it  was  this  one. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Kupka  was  much  older  than  they  and  came 
from  a  radically  different  cultural  background.  As  he  wrote  to  Roessler  in 
1897,  one  year  after  his  arrival  in  Paris: 


47 


Here  in  Paris  I  have  lost  the  capacity  to  think;  what  remains  are  my  sense  per- 
ceptions. 1  ivould  like  to  stop  thinking  altogether  .  .  .  so  that  1  needn't  adapt 
myself  to  endless  metaphysics  for  no  good  reason.  Even  though  I  still  have  an 
impression  of  alienation  from  this  world,  and  1  still  have  visions  which  seem 
very  real,  I  am  working  with  all  my  strength  to  get  out  of  the  transcendental 
labyrinth,  and  to  limit  myself  to  my  sense  organs.  ...  7  am  mentally  intoxicated 
by  the  Parisian  air  which  forces  one  to  be  very  pragmatic  and  leads  one  away 
from  introspection.  . .  ,2 

Vienna  was  like  a  sickness  of  a  man  who  is  not  physically  fit.  ...  7  became  an 
emotionally  sick  man.  Viennese  air  is  not  good  for  a  painter.  .  .  .  It  was  deca- 
dent. Here  I  am  once  again  enjoying  the  light  and  warmth  of  life.  I  am  healed  of 
these  diseases. ...  7  want  to  go  back  to  learning  from  nature.3 

These  letters  reveal  the  disparity  between  the  context  of  experience  of 
Kupka's  past  and  the  context  of  the  present  he  is  discovering.  The  shock  of 
discovery  is  discernible  in  all  his  correspondence  of  the  period.  Yet  equally 
perceptible  is  the  imprint  of  his  Central  European  heritage,  a  vision  and 
philosophy  which  will  remain  with  him  throughout  his  lifetime. 

Kupka's  aesthetic  was  indeed  foreign  to  French  positivist  thinking.  For 
Kupka,  art  was  the  projection  of  the  highest  form  of  human  spirituality 
through  evocative  but  autonomous  forms  and  colors.  The  artist  does  not 
reproduce  nature;  but  nature  is  his  model  for  understanding  the  universal 
cosmic  order.  The  natural  processes  of  growth,  expansion,  rotation,  dila- 
tion, constriction  are  visible  inferences  of  rhythms  which  man,  as  a  part  of 
the  cosmic  order,  contains  within  his  innermost  being.  These  rhythms  pro- 
vide the  structure  of  the  artist's  vision. 

Whereas  the  artist's  vision  is  "subjective"— a  term  which  Kupka  under- 
stood to  mean  a  personal  interpretation  of  cosmic  forces— his  formal  means 
must  be  objective;  he  must  invent  a  repertory  of  forms  and  colors  which 
evoke  universally  legible  concepts,  instincts  and  rhythms.  Technical  per- 
fection is  of  prime  importance  in  order  to  project  one's  vision  in  unequiv- 
ocal terms.  Like  Kandinsky,  Kupka  analyzed  the  configuration,  function 
and  significance  of  a  spot,  a  point,  a  line,  a  plane  and  every  color.  Vehicles 
of  universal  values,  emotions  and  ideas,  each  one  was  to  be  used  according 
to  its  specific  function. 

Kupka's  aesthetic  can  be  traced  to  two  dominant  influences  in  his  early 
life.  The  first  is  his  involvement  with  occult  sciences  and  mystical  experi- 
ences, continuous  since  his  early  exposure  to  spiritism  as  a  child  in  Bohemia. 
Later  he  became  interested  in  astrology,  Theosophy  and  Eastern  religions. 
He  probably  remained  a  medium  all  his  life.  These  disciplines  made  him 
receptive  to  visionary  experiences  and  taught  him  that  a  world  beyond  the 
perceptual  realm  exists,  a  world  ruled  by  dynamic  causality  and  change, 
colored  by  imaginary  not  perceived  hues,  infinite  in  its  dimensions.  Nothing 
is  still,  everything  moves  in  a  vital  flux.  Man  can  only  intuit  its  rhythms. 

The  second  abiding  influence  in  Kupka's  life  was  the  specific  kind  of  aca- 
demic training  he  received,  first  in  Jaromer  in  Bohemia  and  later  in  Prague 
and  Vienna.  His  professor  Studnicka  may  have  been  the  most  important 
element  in  this  schooling,  as  he  instructed  him  in  the  associative  powers  of 

colors  and  the  emotional  implications  of  dynamic  line.  This  teaching  was  i  Ibid.,  February  7,  i897. 

based  on  the  study  of  folklore  motifs  as  universal  archetypal  configura-  3  Ibid.,  March  10, 1897. 


48 


4  The  author  is  indebted  to  Mladek  for 
bringing  Studnicka  to  her  attention 
and  helping  her  understand  his  sig- 
nificance, as  well  as  that  of  the 
Nazarenes  in  the  context  of  Kupka's 
development. 

5  Undated  manuscript;  courtesy 
Andree  Martinel-Kupka. 


Lions.1  Kupka's  Nazarene  professors  were  a  lesser  influence.  Nonetheless, 
their  Symbolist  aesthetics  contributed  to  his  turning  away  from  descrip- 
tive, narrative  painting  and  to  his  understanding  of  art  as  embodying  spirit- 
ual significance. 

With  these  dimensions  of  Kupka's  past  experience  in  mind,  it  is  under- 
standable that  Paris  appeared  to  him  as  another,  entirely  foreign  world.  It 
is  also  understandable  that  he  found  the  conceptual  basis  of  Cubism  in- 
compatible with  the  abstract  concepts  which  he  understood  as  the  real 
content  of  art.  Formally  it  was  inappropriate  as  well.  Cubism  was  static, 
monochromatic,  flat  and  spatially  restricted,  a  distortion  of  perceptual 
reality  based  on  a  sum  of  rational  or  pictorially  logical  choices.  How- 
ever Kupka's  vision  was  one  of  constant  change,  which  implied  dynamic 
rhythms,  arbitrary  color,  undetermined  space. 

Abstraction  would  be  Kupka's  alternative  to  Cubism:  a  translation  of  his 
vision  into  pure  rhythmic  forms  and  colors.  Understanding  the  cosmic  order 
as  a  kaleidoscope  of  changing  light,  color  forms  and  space,  Kupka  was 
keenly  aware  of  the  difficulties  involved  in  capturing  its  sense  and  structure: 

Alas,  Nature  is  ever-changing,  rapid  are  its  metamorphoses.  The  laws  of  physi- 
ology are  beginning  to  be  disseminated;  Daguerre,  the  moving  picture,  reproduce 
more  exactly  what  the  most  faithful  realist  painters  attempted  to  give  the  world. 
The  most  skillful  artist  is  absolutely  incapable  of  capturing  the  life  of  nature 
with  traditional  means.  Poetry  is  creation.  The  artist  must  be  able  to  create,  like 
musicians,  constructors  of  machines,  architects? 

Paradoxically,  Kupka's  aesthetic  was  determined  and  clarified  by  his  ex- 
posure to  positivist  philosophical  modes,  advanced  scientific  discoveries  and 
a  diversity  of  artistic  models  and  theories  in  France.  Through  his  discovery 
of  the  moving  picture  in  its  preliminary  forms  and  extensions— from  the 
physiological  experiment  to  the  art  form— he  learned  to  endow  the  two- 
dimensional  image  with  implications  of  motion  and,  by  thus  extending  the 
subject  into  its  surrounding  space,  he  arrived  at  the  pure  visual  expression 
of  universal  rhythms.  Although  he  had  been  versed  in  color  theory  since  his 
early  training  in  Jaromer,  the  example  of  Neo-Impressionist  practice  and 
theories  enlarged  his  understanding  of  the  potential  of  free  color-form.  And 
new  discoveries  in  the  natural  sciences,  as  well  as  Kupka's  increased  atten- 
tion to  the  objects  of  his  perception  helped  him  discern  microcosmic  indices 
in  the  cosmic  order  in  nature. 

Kupka  came  from  Central  Europe  with  a  vision  developed  through  the 
exercise  of  metaphysics.  His  exposure  to  positivism  taught  him  to  perceive 
the  physical  equivalents  of  this  vision  and  distill  them  into  abstract  equiva- 
lents. His  vision,  his  new  perceptual  experiences  and  their  formal  technical 
implementation  would  interact,  producing  a  unique  personal  form  of  ex- 
pression. 

Kupka  and  the  Depiction  of  Movement 

At  first  glance,  rhythmic  organic  activity  and  the  evenly  measured  sequences 
of  the  film  strip  appear  as  diametrically  opposed  concepts  of  the  displace- 
ment of  matter  in  time  and  space.  However  the  history  of  scientific  investi- 
gation in  these  domains  proves  this  to  be  untrue.  The  forefathers  of  the 


49 


A.  An/ruilh  -     B-  Cliienttemer  _     C  .  Lczard   -    D  .    Gecko. 


Gocl.irit/  _    /O  images  />,//■  seco/irft 


^^kt 


Irlrf^i 


Goc/;u/<f  _  37 images  par  seeoinic 


Pottfc 

MotUH'iiionls  divers 


Pigeon 

r 

T      ? 

r 

t    r 

Tipule  aa  vol 


fig.  I. 

Marey,  Diverse  Examples  of  Animal 

Locomotion.  Musee  Marey,  Beaune, 

France. 


cinematographic  technique  were  physiologists,  men  of  science  who  were  ex- 
ploring the  dynamic  natural  processes  of  the  universe. 

For  example,  Etienne- Jules  Marey  is  best  known  for  his  late  nineteenth- 
century  photographs  of  animal  and  human  locomotion,  (see  figs,  i  and  z). 
In  fact,  his  area  of  investigation  extended  far  beyond  this  achievement.  First 
with  his  chronographic  process,  then  with  his  chronophotographs,  Marey 
recorded  images  of  the  muscular,  respiratory  and  circulatory  activity  of  the 
human  body;  the  minute  patterns  of  insects  in  flight  (see  fig.  3);  the  move- 
ment of  water  and  air  currents  (see  fig.  4).  Other  contemporaneous  physi- 
ologists photographed  and  graphed  the  accumulation  and  disintegration  of 
cloud  formations,  the  effects  of  lightning,  eclipses  of  the  sun,  positions  of  the 
moon.  Still  others  studied  the  kinetic  variations  in  currents  of  electricity. 


50 


fig.  2.. 

Marey,  Man  Walking,  c.  i88z. 
Cinematheque  francaise,  Paris. 


6  Muybridge's  photographs  were  first 
published  in  France  in  the  periodical 
l.a  Nature,  December  14,  1878. 
Marey 's  first  book  on  animal  loco- 
motion, La  Machine  animate,  ap- 
peared in  1873.  See  Aaron  Scharf,  Art 
and  Photography,  London,  c.  1968, 
chapter  9,  for  extensive  discussion  of 
these  events  and  their  influences. 


And  by  1895,  with  the  inventions  of  microphotography  and  X-ray  photog- 
raphy, it  was  possible  to  trace  the  changing  phases  of  biological  growth. 

Photography  was  a  tool  which  these  men  developed  into  an  exact  science. 
Essentially  they  were  measuring  the  space  and  time  of  common  occurrences. 
To  this  end,  they  devised  systems  of  evenly  spaced  visual  intervals  which, 
measured  by  periods  of  seconds  and  minutes,  allowed  an  understanding  of 
displacement  in  time.  Paradoxically,  these  scientific  experiments  provided 
the  bases  for  cinematography  as  an  art  form,  as  it  emerged  in  the  last  dec- 
ades of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  impact  on  artists  of  these  scientific  discoveries  and  the  more  popular 
forms  which  derived  from  them  was  immeasurable.  Some  artists  reacted 
positively  to  them;  others  considered  all  forms  of  photography  a  threat  to 
their  art.  However,  all  artists  of  the  period  recognized  that  photography 
added  a  dimension  to  visual  experience,  in  its  revelation  to  the  transitory 
aspects  of  natural  phenomena  which  are  invisible  to  the  naked  eye. 

By  the  1890's  it  would  have  been  virtually  impossible  for  an  artist  living 
in  Paris  to  remain  ignorant  of  the  photographic  revolution.  Moreover, 
whereas  up  to  the  1870's  artists  were  concerned  with  the  applications  of 
still  photography,  after  the  publications  of  Marey's  and  Muybridge's  ex- 
periments,6 attention  turned  to  the  kinetic  or  moving  image  (see  figs.  1-13). 
Scientific  and  popular  journals  were  filled  with  photography's  break- 
throughs. Albums  of  photographs  were  published  in  profusion.  One  could 
attend  public  lectures  and  demonstrations  all  over  Paris.  And  as  early  as  the 
1880's,  cameras,  photographs  and  film  strips  were  exhibited  at  the  Conser- 
vatoire des  Arts  et  Metiers. 


51 


It  was  therefore  not  only  logical  but  inevitable  that,  during  the  first  two 
decades  of  the  twentieth-century,  artists  came  to  question  the  traditional 
definition  of  painting  as  an  immobilized  image,  a  static  configuration  of  a 
single  immutable  moment  in  time  and  space.  Kupka,  living  in  France  by  this 
time,  was  no  exception.  In  fact,  although  his  experiments  tend  to  be  over- 
looked, he  may  have  made  the  first  attempts  to  capture  the  kinetic  dimen- 
sion in  painting. 

Kupka  arrived  in  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1896,  at  a  time  when  cinemato- 
graphic activity  was  at  its  height.  Emile  Reynaud  had  been  showing  his 
Optical  Theater  at  the  Musee  Grevin  since  1892.  Edison's  Kinetoscope  of 
1 89 1  had  been  available  to  the  general  public  since  1894,  the  year  a  Kineto- 
scope Parlor  was  opened  at  20,  boulevard  Poissonniere.  The  Lumiere  broth- 
ers' Cinematograph  had  been  unveiled  in  December  1895  and,  since  then, 
projected  films  daily  at  the  Grand  Cafe,  14,  boulevard  des  Capucines.  By 
1896,  the  Lumiere  brothers  could  show  footage  backwards  and  Georges 
Melies  was  projecting  fast-motion  films.  In  the  year  1896  alone,  129  patents 
were  registered  in  France  relating  to  moving  picture  filming  and  projection.7 
All  over  Paris,  music  halls,  theaters  and  cabarets  presented  kinetic  light  and 
image  shows,  from  primitive  magic  lantern  productions  to  the  most  tech- 
nically sophisticated  projections. 


fig- 3- 

Marey,  Partial  Traces  of  Insect's  Flight, 

before  1885.  Musee  Marey,  Beaune, 

France. 


7  Georges  Sadoul,  Histoire  generale  da 
cinema,  vol.  1,  Paris,  1973,  p.  200. 


52- 


MOUVEMENTS  DE  LAIR 

a  la  rencontre  de  Cornk.de  diverted  formed 


fig.  4- 

Marey,  Air  Movements.  Musee  Marey, 

Beaune,  France. 


I  Denise  Fedit  of  Paris,  in  preparing 
the  Kupka  inventory  catalogue  for 
the  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne 
(1966),  found  a  prospectus  for 
Reynaud's  seances  of  1896  or  1897 
among  Kupka's  personal  papers.  The 
author  is  indebted  to  her  for  her 
assistance  and  information  (both 
published  and  unpublished  material) 
concerning  this  particular  aspect  of 
Kupka's  development. 


The  cinematographic  industry  was  concentrated  on  the  right  bank  in 
Paris,  in  Montmartre  and  on  the  grands  boulevards.  Kupka's  studio  was  in 
this  neighborhood,  as  were  the  newspapers  and  cabarets  which  assured  his 
precarious  livelihood  as  an  illustrator.  To  Kupka,  coming  from  a  tradition 
steeped  in  allegory,  mysticism  and  metaphysics,  Parisian  life  was  a  continu- 
ous revelation:  a  world  of  vivid  sense  perceptions  opening  up  before  him. 
He  may  therefore  have  been  more  vulnerable  to  the  visual  seduction  and 
implications  of  cinematography  than  his  French  colleagues  and  contempo- 
raries. 

A  prospectus  found  among  Kupka's  possessions  indicates  that  he  dis- 
covered the  moving  picture  in  the  form  of  Reynaud's  Praxinoscope  or  his 
Optical  Theater  as  early  as  1896  or  1897s  (see  %■>  P-  92)-  Reynaud  showed 
his  Optical  Theater  at  the  Musee  Grevin  almost  daily  between  1892  and 


53 


1900.  The  Praxinoscope  and  the  Optical  Theater  were  constructed  on  an 
identical  principle  of  two  nested  cylinders.  The  outer  one  was  lined  with 
panels  on  its  inner  face,  each  one  depicting  a  different  and  consecutive  phase 
of  a  figure  in  motion.  The  center  drum  was  sheathed  with  mirrors.  As  the 
outer  cylinder  revolved  around  the  stationary  inner  drum,  the  mirrors  regis- 
tered the  turning  images,  reconstituting  them  into  one  consecutive  move- 
ment. Reynaud's  first  bands  were  drawn  by  hand.  In  August  1896,  he  began 
making  bands  based  on  photographs,  inspired  by  Marey's  chronophoto- 
graphs.  Yet  since  Reynaud  colored  and  retouched  even  the  photographs  by 
hand,  his  projections  retained  a  hand-made  quality. 

Around  1900-02,  Kupka  executed  a  drawing,  The  Horsemen  (cat.  no. 
9),  inspired  by  the  Praxinoscope  principle.  It  is  a  precocious  but  isolated 
experiment  at  this  point  in  Kupka's  career.  A  revolutionary  depiction  of 
movement,  the  early  date  of  this  drawing  is  often  questioned.9  However  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  Reynaud's  presentations  at  the  Musee  Grevin  were  dis- 
continued in  1900  and  that  around  that  time  moving  picture  production 
entered  a  more  sophisticated  phase— based  on  documentary  footage  (Lu- 
miere)  and  theatrical  mises-en-scenes  (Melies)— the  dates  1900-02  appear 
more  plausible  than  a  later  date.  Furthermore,  Kupka's  style  in  this  drawing 
is  close  to  the  rapid  brush  and  ink  manner  he  developed  for  L'Assiette  au 
beurre,  he  Rire  and  the  other  satirical  journals  for  which  he  started  working 
around  the  turn  of  the  century. 

The  representation  of  movement  in  The  Horsemen  is  primitive.  The  sur- 
face is  divided  into  rhythmic  vertical  bands.  The  vertical  seams  which  scan 
the  drawing's  surface  reproduce  the  effect  of  the  Praxinoscope's  mirror  pan- 
els which  ripple  at  each  juncture.  In  the  left  foreground  Kupka  presents  a 
positive  image  whose  shadow  is  multiplied  and  reflected  across  the  mirror 
panels.  On  the  far  right,  the  horseman's  shadow  is  shown  turning  to  the 
rear,  indicating  that  Kupka  was  inspired  by  a  convex  image,  or,  more  ex- 
actly, an  image  on  a  circular  drum. 

Although  the  technique  for  recording  movement  is  based  essentially  on 
Reynaud's  invention  (in  fact  Reynaud  did  bands  of  moving  horses),  Kupka 
could  as  well  have  been  referring  to  Muybridge's  and  Marey's  studies  (see 
figs.  5,  12,  13).  These  photographs  were  known  all  over  Paris  and  some  of 
them  were  exhibited  at  the  1900  World's  Fair. 

The  1900  World's  Fair  dominated  the  life  of  the  French  capital  through- 
out that  year.  Kupka  exhibited  at  the  Fair  and  visited  a  number  of  the  pavil- 
ions. In  a  letter  to  Machar,  he  mentioned  a  vertiginous  ascent  in  a  balloon 
which  can  only  refer  to  the  Cineorama  which  was  conceived  specially  for 
the  Fair  and  duplicated  a  balloon  voyage  in  all  its  details.10  His  already  evi- 
dent interest  in  photography  and  the  cinema  suggests  that  he  must  have 
visited  the  large  photography  pavilion  exhibition  organized  by  Marey. 

Marey's  exhibition  was  divided  into  two  parts,  both  of  which  would 
have  been  of  immediate  or  long-range  interest  to  Kupka.  The  first  section, 
"Instruments  and  Images  Related  to  the  History  of  Chronophotography," 
included  the  following  displays:  photographs  showing  the  analysis  of  ani- 
mal locomotion  according  to  the  Muybridge  method  (photographs  of 
horses)  (see  fig.  5);  chronophotographs  by  Marey,  showing  a  fencer  (fig.  6) 


9  Mladek  prefers  a  1909-10  date; 
Virginia  Spate  dates  the  drawing 
1906-08  in  her  forthcoming  book 
Orphism  (Oxford  University  Press); 
Jindfich  Chalupecky  dates  it  1909-12 
("Nothing  but  an  Artist,"  Studio 
International,  vol.  189,  January-Feb- 
ruary 1975,  p.  32).  On  the  other  hand, 
Fedit  dates  it  1900-02,  as  does 
Vachtova. 

10  Invented  by  Raoul  Grimoin-Sanson, 
a  disciple  of  Marey  and  friend  of 
Melies,  Reynaud  and  Albert  Londe, 
the  Cineorama  was  built  for  the  Fair 
at  the  foot  of  the  Eiffel  Tower.  It 
consisted  of  a  circular  drum  in  which 
the  audience  sat  as  though  in  the 
nacelle  of  an  airship.  This  was  sur- 
mounted by  a  balloon.  A  moving 
picture  depicting  a  voyage  over 
Europe  and  North  Africa  was  pro- 
jected on  the  circular  screen.  For 
further  information  on  this  inven- 
tion, see  Grimoin-Sanson's  auto- 
biography, Le  Film  de  ma  vie,  Paris, 
1926,  pp.  88-127. 


54 


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f-5- 

uybridge,  Daisy  Jumping  a  Hurdle, 
83-87.  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
ew  York,  Gift  of  the  Philadelphia 
Dmmercial  Museum. 


55 


and  a  walking  man  (fig.  2);  three-dimensional  sculptures  based  on  chrono- 
photographs;  a  multiple-lens  camera  invented  by  Albert  Londe,  accom- 
panied by  photographs  of  a  horseman;  multiple  images,  including  the 
schematization  of  a  running  man  (fig.  7);  double-action  chronophoto- 
graphs;  chronophotographic  projectors;  Edison's  Kinetoscope;  the  Lumiere 
brothers'  Cinematograph. 

The  second  part  of  Marey's  exhibition  demonstrated  the  "Scientific  Ap- 
plications of  Chronophotography."  In  the  catalogue  accompanying  the 
exhibition,  Marey  explained  how  the  chronophotographic  process  can  cap- 
ture the  consecutive  positions  of  a  moving  object  and  create  a  visual  (vir- 
tual) volume  or  a  compound  image  consisting  of  elements  invisible  to 
the  naked  eye.  The  examples  given,  and  exhibited,  included  photographs  of 
a  single  thread  or  band  of  paper  rotating  around  a  central  axis,  forming  a 
sphere  or  a  skein-like  configuration;  photographs  of  water  and  air  currents; 
patterns  of  animal  locomotion  on  land  (horses),  in  water  (eels,  other  fish),  in 
the  air  (birds,  insects),  etc.11 

By  1900,  Marey's  and  Muybridge's  experiments  were  widely  known.  Not 
only  cinematographers  and  artists  but  poets  and  writers  on  aesthetics  had 
immediately  seized  upon  their  implications.  Paul  Valery's  Introduction  a  la 


fig.  6. 

Marey,  Fencer,  1882.  Cinematheque 

francaise,  Paris. 


11  [Marey],  Musee  centennal  de  la 
classe  12  (Photograpbie)  a  ['Exposi- 
tion Universelle  Internationale  de 
1900  a  Paris,  exhibition  catalogue, 
St.  Cloud,  n.d. 


56 


fig- 7- 

Marey,  Cbronophotographic  Study  of 
Hitman  Locomotion,  1887-88.  Musee 
National  des  Techniques,  Paris. 


wmmm 

1 1  '2*  '5  U  is  1  j 


' 


12  Reprinted  in  Paul  Valery,  Variete, 
Paris,  1914,  pp.  213-268;  the  passage 
referred  to  is  on  pp.  2.32.-233. 

13  Paul  Souriau,  La  Suggestion  dans 
I'art,  Paris,  1893,  p.  126. 


methode  de  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  first  published  in  1894,  contains  a  passage 
on  motion  which  engenders  form  which  probably  could  not  have  been 
written  without  knowledge  of  Marey's  discoveries.12  More  directly  relevant 
to  our  subject,  in  1889  and  in  1893,  Paul  Souriau  referred  to  Marey  and 
Muybridge  in  his  books  of  art  theory,  L'Estbetique  du  moiwement  and  La 
Suggestion  dans  I'art.  The  second  book  remained  in  Kupka's  library  until 
his  death.  It  is  unfortunately  impossible  to  determine  when  he  acquired  it. 
However,  certain  passages  of  this  1893  publication  discuss  the  translation  of 
movement  onto  a  two-dimensional  support  in  a  way  which  explicitly  fore- 
casts Kupka's  somewhat  later  approach  to  the  problem. 

In  the  chapter  entitled  "The  Representation  of  Movement,"  Souriau  gives 
the  following  indications: 

The  most  exact  and  the  most  expressive  pose  can  only  show  us  one  phase  of 
represented  movement;  mobility  consists  of  a  sequence  of  these  phases.  How 
can  one  project  an  idea  of  that  sequence?  By  depicting  several  figures  which 
enact  approximately  the  same  movement,  each  one  depicting  a  different  phase. 
Thus  one  produces  an  illusion  like  that  of  the  zootrope:  the  diverse  images 
which  succeed  one  another  on  our  retina  give  the  impression  of  a  jerky  move- 
ment at  high  speed.  .  .  .  Each  part  of  the  total  image  presents  a  figure  which  the 
next  figure  modifies  and  the  total  impression  of  movement  is  extraordinary P 


57 


This  particular  passage  evokes  Marey's  multiple  exposure  images  more 
than  Muybridge's  separately  framed  photographs  (see  figs.  8-n).  Although 
often  grouped  together,  the  two  photographers  had  very  different  ap- 
proaches to  their  subject  of  human  or  animal  locomotion.  Muybridge's 
photographs  of  consecutive  phases  of  motion  were  made  by  a  battery  of 
cameras  placed  around  or  along  a  moving  subject's  path.  Thus  the  photog- 
rapher virtually  moved  around  or  with  the  figure,  capturing  its  progression 
from  slightly  different  points  of  view.  Marey,  who  was  interested  in  patterns 
of  motion,  not  in  the  specific  characteristics  of  each  arrested  phase,  captured 
the  consecutive  imprints  of  a  moving  subject  on  a  single  stationary  lens.  The 
subject  moved  before  the  camera;  the  camera  did  not  move.  The  resulting 
chronophotograph  showed  a  compound  image  of  separate  but  overlapping 
silhouettes  of  a  single  figure  moving  through  space  and  time.  The  trajectory 
of  displacement  and  the  minute  oscillation  patterns,  both  invisible  as  such 
to  the  naked  eye,  were  rendered  as  a  sequence  of  superimposed  forms  in 
which  trace  images  and  impressions  assumed  as  much  presence  and  sub- 
stance as  the  figure  itself  which  was  conversely  dematerialized  in  its  kinetic 
progression.  Thus,  as  Marey  liked  to  point  out,14  the  process  neutralized  all 
positions  of  the  subject  to  the  status  of  a  virtual  presence. 


fig.  8. 

Marey,  Man  jumping.  Cinematheque 

francaise,  Paris. 


fig-9- 

Muybridge,  Woman  jumping  over 
Chair,  1883-87.  The  Museum  of  Mod- 
ern Art,  New  York,  Gift  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Commercial  Museum. 


14  [Marey],  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 


58 


15  The  author  is  indebted  to  Michel 
Frizot  of  Dijon  for  bringing  this  con- 
tact to  her  attention. 

16  George  Heard  Hamilton  and  William 
C.  Agee,  Raymond  Duchamp-Villon, 
1876-1918,  New  York,  1967,  dis- 
cussion and  reproduction,  pp.  40-41. 


In  1908,  the  influence  of  high-speed  photography  appeared  in  the  work 
of  the  sculptor  Raymond  Duchamp-Villon.  Prior  to  1898,  Duchamp-Villon 
had  studied  medicine  and  completed  his  internship  at  the  Salpetriere  hos- 
pital in  Paris  where  he  came  in  contact  with  Dr.  Albert  Londe,  who  was  then 
Director  of  the  Photographic  and  Radiographic  Division.15  Londe,  a  disciple 
of  Marey,  was  interested  in  the  decomposition  and  analysis  of  physiological 
activity.  Inspired  by  Muybridge's  experiments,  by  1883  Londe  had  devel- 
oped a  single  camera  with  multiple  lenses  activated  by  a  metronome  with 
which  he  could  photograph  nine  or  twelve  consecutive  movements  in  space. 
Thus  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  Duchamp-Villon  was  familiar  with  high-speed 
photography  and  the  physiological  analysis  of  movement  before  he  left  the 
medical  profession  to  become  a  sculptor. 

The  small  sculpture  Song,  of  which  the  first  plaster  version  dates  from 
1908,  shows  Duchamp-Villon's  first  explicit  reference  to  high-speed  photog- 
raphy. William  Agee  has  argued  that  a  sequence  of  Muybridge  photographs 
of  a  "seated  figure  slightly  turning  with  arm  raised"  helped  the  sculptor 
arrive  at  the  formulation  of  this  sculpture.16  Agee  points  out  that  Duchamp- 
Villon  turned  to  Muybridge  "to  confirm  his  own  observation."  His  earlier 
attempts  to  capture  motion  had  not  completely  satisfied  him  and  he  realized 
that  a  true  understanding  of  muscular  activity  depended  on  these  recent 
developments  in  photography. 

The  Kupka/Duchamp-Villon  family  friendship  dated  from  at  least  as 
early  as  1900,  the  year  Kupka  moved  in  next  to  Jacques  Villon  on  the  rue  de 
Caulaincourt  in  Montmartre.  In  1906  both  Villon  and  Kupka  moved  to  ad- 
joining houses  at  7,  rue  Lemaitre  in  Puteaux,  a  Parisian  suburb.  They  were 
to  be  joined  in  1907  by  Raymond  Duchamp-Villon  who  took  a  house 
which  shared  the  same  garden.  Marcel  Duchamp,  who  was  living  in  nearby 
Neuilly  by  that  time,  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  Puteaux. 


59 


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ttJI 

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K I 

■b     * 

K£&9l 

1 

fig.  IO. 

Marey,  Bird  in  Flight.  Cinematheque 
francaise,  Paris. 


In  1908,  the  same  year  it  appeared  in  Duchamp-Villon's  sculpture,  evi- 
dence of  interest  in  high-speed  photography  began  to  emerge  in  Kupka's 
work.  Yet  Kupka,  who  was  less  interested  in  pinpointing  anatomical 
changes  than  in  motion  as  a  time-space  progression,  turned  toward  Marey 
and  chronophotography  for  his  models.  His  initial  subject  was  his  wife's 
daughter  Andree  playing  in  the  garden  with  a  ball  (cat.  no.  31).  Frustrated 
by  the  impossibility  of  capturing  the  kinetic  dimension  of  both  the  ball  in 
the  air  and  the  child  at  play,  he  began  doing  diagrams  of  the  child  with  the 
ball.  The  schematic  sketches  of  the  child's  curving  gestures  combined  with 
an  analysis  of  color  derived  from  the  colored  ball  rotating  through  the  spec- 
trum led  to  the  series  of  1911-12,  Disks  of  Neivton  (cat.  nos.  72-75)  and  fi- 
nally to  the  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two  Colors  (cat.  no.  92)  of  1912.  However 
simultaneous  studies  of  the  child's  silhouette  as  it  turned  upon  itself  estab- 
lished the  basis  for  another,  parallel  series  of  works  of  1909-n,  Wotnaii 
Picking  Flowers,  which  depicts  overlapping  consecutive  phases  of  motion. 
These  works,  less  abstract,  and  therefore  less  spectacular  than  the  studies 
leading  to  the  Fugue,  are  visually  closer  to  chronophotography.  They  are 
also  closer  to  and  may  in  fact  adumbrate  Marcel  Duchamp's  paintings  of 
191117  and  Villon's  paintings  of  19 12-13  (for  example,  Soldiers  on  the 
March).  It  is  therefore  important  to  examine  them  here  in  order  to  under- 
stand Kupka's  position  in  relation  to  other  artists  of  his  time. 

The  theme  of  a  woman  picking  flowers  culminates  in  1909-10  in  a  large 
series  of  vibrant  pastels  (see  cat.  nos.  46-5 1).18  In  the  two  earliest  studies 
shown  here,  the  subject— a  woman  rising  from  a  seated  position  and  leaning 
forward  to  pick  a  flower— is  decomposed  into  several  evenly  spaced  and 
flattened  overlapping  silhouettes  strung  out  across  a  vertical  grid.  A  pro- 
nounced blur  of  even  hatching  suggests  the  trajectory  from  one  position  to 
another.  Kupka  was  to  write  a  few  years  later:  "In  order  to  give  the  impres- 
sion of  movement  through  the  use  of  static  agents  .  .  .  one  must  evoke  a  se- 
quence of  presences;  to  do  so  in  the  visual  arts,  one  must  indicate  different 
intensities  of  impressions,  from  the  least  to  the  most  easily  perceptible.  .  .  . 


fig.  11. 

Muybridge,  Bird  in  Flight,  1883-87.  The 

Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York,  Gift 

of  the  Philadelphia  Commercial 

Museum. 


17  For  discussion  of  Duchamp's  1911 
paintings,  see  this  author's  "Kupka, 
Duchamp  and  Marey,"  Studio 
International,  vol.  189,  January- 
February,  1975,  pp.  49-50. 

18  Visitors  to  Kupka's  studio  in  the 
fifties  (Lilli  Lonngren,  Meda  Mladek) 
remember  seeing  perhaps  as  many 

as  fifteen  pastels  on  this  theme.  Un- 
fortunately the  whereabouts  of  the 
others  are  unknown  today. 

19  At  the  time  of  writing  this  text,  the 
author  had  had  access  to  four  un- 
dated manuscripts  (in  French),  all  of 
which  showed  some  stage  of  prep- 
aration for  Kupka's  book  Tvofeni 

v  Umeni  Vy'tvarnem,  finished  in  1913 
and  published  in  1913.  These  manu- 
scripts have  been  classified  as  follows, 
and  will  be  referred  to  accordingly 
throughout  this  catalogue.  Manu- 
script I:  Notebook,  1910-11  (?)  Pre- 
liminary notes.  Courtesy  Andree 
Martinel-Kupka;  Manuscript  II: 


60 


Handwritten  version  of  Chapter  V. 
courtesy  Karl  Flinker;  Manuscript 
III:  Miscellaneous  notes.  Courtesy 
Denise  Fedit;  Manuscript  IV:  Com- 
plete manuscript  of  book  (prelimi- 
nary form);  Courtesy  Denise  Fedit. 
Since  Kupka's  French  is  often  not 
only  repetitious  but  syntactically 
incorrect,  for  brevity  and  clarity's 
sake,  all  texts  have  been  translated 
by  the  author  into  English.  The  above 
quote  is  from  Manuscript  II,  p.  66. 
Manuscripts  II-IV  may  be  dated 
1912-13. 

20  It  is  impossible  to  determine  the 
exact  order  in  which  these  pastels 
were  executed.  But  it  does  seem  that 
cat.  nos.  49  and  50,  more  fluid  and 
synthetic,  could  not  have  been  done 
unless  they  were  preceded  by  the 
analytical  approach  seen  in  the  first 
two  described  here. 

21  Kupka,  Manuscript  I,  p.  5. 
12  Ibid.,  p.  29. 


Thus  one  can  render  an  effect  of  displacement,  especially  if  the  contours  of 
the  forms— moving— are  cinematically  unfolded,  multiplied,  moving  from 
degree  to  degree,  plane  to  plane."19 

In  later  versions  of  the  same  subject  (cat.  nos.  49-50),20  this  evenly  ca- 
denced  pattern  of  motion  is  loosened  and  dissolved  into  a  cluster  of  ever 
more  fluid  arabesques.  Whereas  the  earlier  images  were  based  on  a  fairly 
literal  analysis  of  sense  perceptions,  dependent  on  the  chronophotographic 
process,  the  later  group  shows  a  more  personal  interpretation.  Here  Kupka 
translates  the  moving  subject  into  the  abstract  concept  of  motion  itself, 
seen  in  the  rhythmic  articulation  of  ethereal  shadows  fanning  out  from  a 
central  upright  axis. 

In  the  last  version  shown  here  (cat.  no.  51),  although  the  grid  structure  is 
once  more  visible,  the  figure  is  shattered  and  integrated  into  the  surround- 
ing space.  Here  Kupka  achieves  a  unified  all-over  pattern  in  which  focal 
image,  trace  or  memory  imprints  and  ambient  space  are  fragmented,  flat- 
tened and  enmeshed  in  a  single  plane.  Kupka  wrote  in  his  notebook  of 
approximately  the  same  time  (1910-n):  "When  we  try  to  remember  a 
dream  .  .  .  often  we  only  retain  a  skeleton  of  the  dream  images  ...  a  vague 
grid  through  which  fragmented  forms  emerge  and  disappear  as  quickly  as 
they  came."21  However,  more  relevant  to  the  artist's  specific  pictorial  con- 
cerns is  the  passage  in  the  same  notes  where  he  states:  "The  projection  of  a 
form  on  the  surface  of  the  canvas  is  in  fact  merely  the  limiting  of  one  sur- 
face in  relationship  to  the  surrounding  surfaces.  The  better  painter  one  is, 
the  better  one  binds  the  two."  Contour,  shading,  light,  he  continues,  are 
means  to  articulate  the  surface  and,  used  in  a  particular  manner,  to  destroy 
the  traditional  priority  of  closed  focalized  forms.22  Obviously  Kupka  is  at- 
tempting to  slide  his  forms  into  a  less  differentiated  spatial  pattern. 


61 


There  is  reason  to  believe  (but  unfortunately  there  is  no  proof)  that  the 
original  inspiration  for  these  drawings  was  a  photograph  of  Madame  Kupka 
in  the  garden  in  Puteaux.  Kupka  was  only  an  amateur  photographer.  How- 
ever at  approximately  the  same  time  (c.  1908),  he  devised  a  camera  with 
which  to  take  photographs  of  himself  running  naked  in  his  garden.  The 
resulting  shots  were  rather  crude  multiple-exposure  photographs  for  which 
Marey  unquestionably  provided  the  inspiration.23 

A  second  series  of  works  executed  between  1909  and  191 1  depicts  a 
woman  with  one  arm  raised,  the  other  on  her  hip.  Whereas  the  final  oil  ver- 
sion Planes  by  Colors  (cat.  no.  59)  appears  as  a  static  composition  flattened 
across  a  vertical  grid,  two  preparatory  pastels  (cat.  nos.  56,  57)  reveal  an  im- 
plicit kinetic  content.  The  studies  show  the  head  and  arms  in  several  con- 
secutive positions  simultaneously.  And  as  the  upper  limbs  shift  positions, 
the  torso,  hips  and  thighs  seem  to  rotate  from  a  three-quarter  to  a  frontal 
position.  Thus  once  again  we  have  a  composite  image  of  a  perceived  subject 
enhanced  by  memory  impressions.  And,  in  a  manner  similar  to  Marey's 
process,  as  the  subject  extends  its  image  to  encompass  the  temporal  dimen- 
sion, its  substance  is  diluted  in  space  to  that  of  a  virtual  presence. 


fig.  iz. 

Marey,  Horseman,  Cinematheque 

francaise,  Paris. 


13  Once  again  the  source  of  this  infor- 
mation is  Fedit  who  has  reported  (in 
conversation  with  the  author)  that 
she  saw  the  photographs  of  Kupka 
in  the  garden  (photographs  which  are 
now  lost?).  Fedit  has  also  said  she 
cannot  believe  that  these  pastels 
were  not  based  on  a  photograph. 
Kupka's  stepdaughter,  Andree 
Martinel-Kupka,  says  that  she  be- 
lieves the  series  was  "inspired  by  my 
mother  in  the  garden  at  Puteaux." 
(Correspondence  with  the  author, 
Spring  1975.) 


62 


fig.  13. 

Marey,  Walking  Horse.  Cinematheque 
fran^aise,  Paris. 


14  Souriau,  op.  cit.,  p.  127. 


The  theme  of  Planes  by  Colors  is  rotational  motion.  It  depicts  a  figure 
moving  toward  and  away  from  the  viewer  around  a  central  axis.  Interest- 
ingly, this  is  a  subject  which  Souriau  discussed  in  some  detail,  saying  that  a 
figure  supposedly  moving  from  one  side  of  the  canvas  to  the  other  never 
transmits  a  successful  illusion  of  movement  because  the  object  must  be  cap- 
tured at  a  single  arrested  point  of  its  path.  However,  in  real  life  a  figure  mov- 
ing toward  the  viewer  does  not  perceptibly  move  in  his  field  of  vision,  and 
therefore  its  painted  version  does  not  present  a  discrepancy  to  the  viewer. 
Souriau  suggests  that  the  most  effective  image  is  ". . .  the  oblique  movement 
which  presents  figures  in  three-quarter  view.  The  impression  may  be  less 
strong  but  the  aesthetic  effect  is  .  .  .  more  satisfying  than  an  abrupt  fore- 
shortening."24 

The  imagery  of  this  figure  rotating  in  space  engenders  the  notion  of  a 
virtual  volume  situated  in  shallow  depth  behind  the  surface  plane.  However 
the  illusion  of  volume  and  its  implications  of  depth  perspective  were  anti- 
thetical to  Kupka's  pictorial  aims.  Acutely  conscious  of  the  two-dimensional 
specificity  of  the  painter's  art,  Kupka  rejected  modeling  and  shading,  rele- 
gating them  to  the  sculptor.  He  rejected  perspective  as  well,  which  he  de- 


63 


fined  as  a  staggering  of  planes  in  depth  through  "the  differentiation  of  di- 
mensions, hues  and  tones."25  As  an  alternative  to  these  conventions,  Kupka 
proposed  the  juxtaposition  of  colors  according  to  their  progression  on  the 
spectrum.2*5 

These  ideas  were  already  visible  in  the  Woman  Ticking  Flowers  series, 
as  was  Kupka's  rejection  of  the  anthropomorphic  centrally  focussed  image: 
"If  I  employ  forms  of  different  dimensions,  composed  according  to  rhythmic 
concerns,  I  will  achieve  a  'symmorphy,'  which,  like  a  symphony,  will  de- 
velop in  space.  That  way  I  will  achieve  an  effect  of  printed  material  [mor- 
ceau  d'etoffe  a  motifs].  There  will  be  no  specific  center  of  attraction.  We  are 
too  accustomed  to  letting  our  eyes  be  drawn  to  the  human  figure,  its  details, 
etc."27 

These  passages  from  Kupka's  writings  help  to  explain  his  pictorial  op- 
tions of  this  period.  The  painting  Planes  by  Colors  is  their  consummate 
illustration.  In  order  to  suppress  not  only  the  pictorial  conventions  he  re- 
jected but  also  the  push-pull  effects  of  the  vibrant  color  contrasts  found  in 
the  pastel  studies,  Kupka  took  each  fluid  silhouette  and  compressed  it  into 
a  flat  rectilinear  plane.  Coloring  the  planes  according  to  a  chromatic  pro- 
gression of  prismatic  color,  he  laid  them  laterally  in  an  even  grid  arrange- 
ment across  the  surface  of  the  canvas.  Thus  he  dissolved  his  subject  into 
ambient  space  and  light  and  destroyed  conventional  perspective,  the  illusion 
of  volume  and  the  traditional  spatial  distinction  between  a  focalized  figure 
and  a  neutral  ground. 

Despite  its  ultimate  flatness,  the  picture  summons  an  idea  of  simultaneous 
gesture  in  time  and  space.  Here  simultaneous  gesture  denotes  an  indistinct 
shifting  of  perceived  or  remembered  forms  within  a  single  figure.  The  tran- 
sition from  sequential  to  simultaneous  gesture  as  it  is  seen  in  this  painting, 
executed  in  19 n  and  exhibited  in  March  19 12,  shows  an  approach  to  the 
concept  of  motion  which  is  quite  different  from  both  that  of  the  Italian 
Futurists  and  the  late  1911  paintings  of  Duchamp. 

Simultaneity  was  a  popular  concept  in  the  years  19 12  to  19 14,  so  general- 
ized in  fact  that  it  was  hopelessly  imprecise.  A  number  of  individual  artists 
felt  they  had  invented  the  term  but  it  was  appropriated  by  poets,  writers  and 
musicians.  Canudo  applied  it  to  Stravinsky;  Apollinaire  and  Blaise  Cendrars 
applied  it  to  themselves;  Henri  Martin  Barzun  wrote  a  Manifeste  sur  le 
simultaneisme  poetique  in  1913;  Delaunay  and  the  Futurists  disputed  it 
among  themselves.  In  reality,  the  term  was  a  catch-all  for  many  things: 
associations,  impressions,  images,  motion,  colors  in  complementarity,  mod- 
ernism. 

Although  the  Futurists  spoke  of  simultaneity,  they  more  often  depicted 
movement  as  a  sequential  unfolding  of  a  single  action  or  image  of  a  state  of 
mind  (stato  d'animo).  Futurist  painting  has  been  described  as  "a  mode  of 
analytical  Cubism,  the  examination  of  moving  parts  in  disarticulation,  Cu- 
bism in  motion."28  Marcel  Duchamp  reportedly  said,  "My  interest  .  .  .  was 
closer  to  the  Cubists'  interest  in  decomposing  forms  than  to  the  Futurists' 
interest  in  suggesting  movement,  or  even  to  Delaunay's  Simultaneist  sugges- 
tions of  it.  My  aim  was  a  static  representation  of  movement . .  ."29 


25  Kupka,  Manuscript  I,  p.  18. 

26  Ibid.,  p.  n. 

27  Ibid.,  p.  10. 

28  Arthur  A.  Cohen,  Sonia  Delaunay, 
New  York,  1975,  p.  30  and  discussion 
of  simultaneity,  pp.  29-30. 

29  Arturo  Schwarz,  The  Complete 
Works  of  Marcel  Duchamp,  New 
York,  1969,  p.  18. 


64 


I 

■       ■    ,  '•  "/**** 


• . '  fx.:i^i 


ml 


fig.  i4. 

Kupka,  Untitled  Sketch,  c.  1910.  Collec- 
tion Karl  Flinker. 


30  Roger  Allard  in  Les  Marches  du 
Sud-Onest,  no.  2,  Paris,  June  1911, 
p.  69. 

31  Jean  Metzinger,  "Note  sur  la  pein- 
ture,"  Pan,  Paris,  October-November 
1910,  pp.  649-651.  English  trans- 
lation from  Edward  F.  Fry,  Cubism, 
New  York-Toronto,  (1966?),  p.  60. 

32.  Richard  "Werner,  "Navstevou  u 
noveho  Frantiska  Kupky,"  Sam- 
ostatnost,  August  8,  1912.  Reprinted 
and  presented  by  Jindrich  Chalu- 
pecky,  Vy'tvarne  umeni  XV,  c.  8, 
1968,  pp.  367-371.  Translation  by 
Suzanna  Simor.  Italics  mine. 


Delaunay  understood  simultaneity  as  a  juxtaposition  on  the  one  hand  of 
complementary  colors  (inspired  by  Chevreul's  "simultaneous  contrasts") 
and  on  the  other  as  an  integration  of  scenes,  objects,  forms  which  could 
never  be  reconciled  in  nature.  As  Roger  Allard  suggested  in  June  191 1,  De- 
launay's  paintings  were  conceived  as  an  assemblage  of  different  points  of 
view.30  This  is  what  characterizes  the  Cubists  and  Delaunay  and  what  sepa- 
rates them  from  Kupka.  Like  Muybridge,  the  Cubists  moved  around  the 
object,  capturing  several  points  of  view.  Metzinger  said  about  Picasso  in 
1910:  ". . .  he  lays  out  a  free  mobile  perspective. . .  ."31  Whereas  Kupka,  emu- 
lating Marey,  forced  the  object  to  move  before  his  "stationary  lens"  or  eyes. 

Curiously  Kupka  never  used  the  term  simultaneity  in  reference  to  his  own 
ambitions.  Yet  one  could  say  he  was  the  most  simultaneist  of  them  all.  In 
fact,  without  using  the  term,  Kupka  defined  it  in  an  interview  with  a  young 
Czech  journalist  in  July  1912  who  recorded  their  conversation  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms:  "Although  he  used  to  be  puzzled  by  the  Futurist  'simultaneity 
of  sequences,'  all  his  effort  today  is  directed  toward  solving  the  problem  of 
shifting.  He  is  stubborn.  When  I  argue  with  him  and  say  that  it  is  impossible 
to  convey  with  one  view  what  in  reality  is  perceived  through  a  continuous 
succession  of  views,  he  gets  excited  and  says,  'Maybe  I'll  believe  that  tomor- 
row; today  I  swear  by  this.'  ",2 

Kupka's  transition  from  sequential  to  simultaneous  imagery  may  be  situ- 
ated sometime  during  the  years  1910-n.  A  small  annotated  sketch  from  that 
period  may  mark  the  turning  point  in  the  artist's  thinking.  This  drawing 
(fig.  14)  shows  indistinctly  overlapping  silhouettes  of  a  female  figure  turning 


65 


and  bowing  slightly  to  the  right.  It  may  be  placed  c.  1910,  between  the  two 
series  studied  above.  In  the  upper  right  corner,  Kupka  has  written:  "Three- 
dimensional  displacement  takes  place  in  space,  whereas  four  dimensional 
displacement  [takes  place]  through  an  exchange  of  atoms.  But  to  capture 
[fix,  arrest]  a  gesture,  a  movement  on  the  space  of  the  canvas  .  .  .  capture 
several  consecutive  movements."  Under  the  inscription,  four  stick  figures 
walking  from  left  to  right  illustrate  the  idea  of  consecutive  displacement. 

The  second  sentence  is  clearly  inspired  by  Marey's  definition  of  move- 
ment in  which  discontinuity  is  a  major  element:  "By  passing  a  series  of  ana- 
lytical images  before  the  spectator's  eyes,  one  reconstitutes  the  appearance 
of  movement  itself."33  Kupka  confirms  his  adherence  to  this  notion  in  further 
notes  of  1912-13:  "Movement  is  no  more  than  a  series  of  different  positions 
in  space."34 

However,  the  first  sentence  of  the  inscription  is  more  enigmatic.  Although 
the  fourth  dimension  was  a  common  subject  of  conversation  in  artists'  cir- 
cles as  early  as  19 10,  Kupka's  terminology  suggests  a  direct  reference  to  an 
explicit  text.  Throughout  the  year  1908,  Gaston  de  Pawlowski,  the  editor  of 
Comoedia,  published  a  series  of  articles  in  his  newspaper  in  which  he  evoked 
the  experience  of  the  fourth  dimension.  These  preliminary  essays  were  in 
fact  sketches  for  a  series  of  articles  he  published  more  regularly  in  1911-12., 
and  of  which  at  least  the  1912  series  would  finally  appear  in  book  form  in 
late  1912  as  Voyage  an  pays  de  la  qnatrieme  dimension.33 

Compare  this  passage  by  Pawlowski  to  Kupka's  notes  above: 

Whereas  in  three-dimensional  displacement  the  atoms  constituting  a  body  are 
pushed  aside  and  replaced  by  other  atoms  forming  another  body  .  .  .  displace- 
ment in  the  country  of  the  fourth  dimension  is  enacted  by  what  one  used  to  call 
a  transmutation.  The  ivorld  of  the  fourth  dimension  being  continuous,  no  move- 
ment in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word  can  be  produced  as  in  the  mobile  ivorld 
of  three  dimensions.  Therefore,  a  displacement  is  made  through  an  exchange  of 
qualities  between  neighboring  atoms.  .  .  .  When  one  enters  the  country  of  the 
fourth  dimension,  movement  such  as  we  know  it,  no  longer  exists;  there  are 
only  qualitative  changes  and  we  remain  immobile,  in  the  common  sense  of  the 
word?6 

Pawlowski's  central  ideas  are  pinpointed  in  Kupka's  lapidary  phrases  and 
illustrated  by  the  two  juxtaposed  drawings.  The  qualitative  changes  seen  in 
Kupka's  rendering  of  simultaneous  gesture  are  produced  by  a  shifting  of 
energies  sliding  into  one  another  and  thereby  cohere  to  Pawlowski's  text. 
However,  Kupka  will  not  completely  discard  the  notion  of  linear  consecu- 
tive motion  as  enacted  in  the  three-dimensional  world.  Both  concepts  of 
displacement  will  accompany  the  artist  in  his  progressive  distillation  of  per- 
ceptual experience  into  abstract  terms. 

Unquestionably  Kupka  had  developed  his  own  theoretical  premises  con- 
cerning the  depiction  of  motion  well  before  the  first  Futurist  paintings 
reached  Paris  in  February  1912.  And  just  as  certainly,  they  developed  in  re- 
lation to  sources  within  his  Parisian  context.  The  same  sources,  and  perhaps 
even  Kupka's  example,  inspired  Marcel  Duchamp  when  he  began  his  own 
studies  of  moving  figures.  Duchamp's  response  to  the  1912.  Futurist  exhibi- 
tion corresponds  to  the  Kupka/Marey  concept  of  motion  based  on  analyti- 
cal discontinuity  rather  than  the  synthetic  continuity  to  which  the  Futurists 
at  least  theoretically  aspired:  "It  was  quite  exciting  for  me  to  see  the  painting 


33  [Marey],op.  cit.,  p.  9. 

34  Manuscript  II,  p.  32.. 

35  See  Jean  Clair,  Marcel  Duchamp  ou 
le  grand  fictif,  Paris,  1975,  pp.  31-32.. 

36  Gaston  de  Pawlowski,  Voyage  au 
pays  de  la  qnatrieme  dimension, 
Paris,  1971,  pp.  79-80  (first  published 
in  1912). 


66 


Dog  on  a  Leash  by  Balla,  showing  also  the  successive  static  positions  of  the 
dog's  legs  and  leash."37 

Nonetheless  it  must  be  recognized  that  despite  an  autonomous  develop- 
ment and  the  fact  that  artists  in  Paris  could  not  have  seen  any  Futurist  paint- 
ing prior  to  February  1912,  Futurist  ideas  were  in  the  air,  transmitted  by  the 
Futurist  manifestoes.  Marinetti's  First  Futurist  Manifesto  appeared  in  Le 
Figaro  on  February  zo,  1909.  The  Technical  Manifesto  of  Futurist  Fainting 
was  published  in  Comoedia  on  May  18,  1910,  accompanied  by  cartoons  by 
Andre  Warnod.  There  are  ideas  in  the  Technical  Manifesto  which  are  so 
close  to  those  circulating  in  the  Puteaux  milieu  that  it  is  far  from  clear  who 
actually  initiated  them.  It  can  only  be  said  that  many  of  the  shared  notions 
derived  from  a  European  community  of  ideas.  Common  to  both  groups  was 
the  influence  of  Neo-Impressionism,  an  interest  in  Bergson,  a  knowledge  of 
Marey,  and  diverse  and  multiple  extensions  of  pictorial,  philosophical  and 
scientific  contexts  of  thought.  Combined,  these  made  up  a  total  context  of 
modernism,  a  context  to  which  Kupka  belonged.  His  personal  contributions 
to  this  context  are  only  beginning  to  emerge  today. 


37  Marcel  Duchamp,  quoted  in  Anne 
D'Harnoncourt  and  Kynaston 
McShine,  eds.,  Marcel  Duchamp, 
New  York,  1973,  p.  258.  There  is 
some  problem  about  this  reference 
since,  according  to  most  historians 
(John  Golding,  Marianne  Martin  for 
example)  Balla  did  not  exhibit  in  the 
1912.  Futurist  exhibition. 

38  According  to  Mladek,  Studnicka's 
color  teaching  derived  from  Bezold. 
If  this  is  true  then  Kupka  may  have 
learned  the  distinction  between 
color-light  and  color-pigment  at  this 
time. 


Kupka  and  Color 

During  the  first  decades  of  this  century,  the  introduction  of  the  kinetic 
dimension  was  capital  to  the  redefinition  of  the  function  of  painting.  As 
capital  was  the  shift  of  emphasis  from  color  subjected  to  form  and  content 
to  color  which  dictates  its  own  laws.  This  shift  was  anticipated  in  the  late 
nineteenth  century  by  Symbolist  and  Impressionist  painters.  Not  only  their 
examples  but  the  theories  to  which  they  referred  were  meaningful  to  the 
generation  active  around  1910-12,  particularly  in  France  and  Italy.  Indeed, 
nineteenth-century  color  theory  was  as  important  a  factor  in  the  eman- 
cipation of  color  as  was  moving-picture  photography  for  the  emancipation 
of  form. 

Whereas  the  emerging  moving-picture  industry  was  a  revelation  to  Kupka 
upon  his  arrival  in  Paris,  his  knowledge  of  color  theory  was  well  advanced, 
and  the  theories  he  encountered  in  Paris  could  not  have  surprised  him.  He 
had  learned  color  theory  from  his  professor  Studnicka  who,  as  early  as  the 
1880's  in  Bohemia,  had  analyzed  prismatic  color  and  invented  color  scales 
for  its  study.38  Yet  the  application  of  these  principles  in  the  art  of  Seurat, 
van  Gogh,  Gauguin,  Redon,  "Whistler  was  light-years  away  from  the  way 
in  which  color  was  used  in  the  Central  European  Academies  where  Kupka 
had  received  his  training. 

By  1896,  the  year  Kupka  arrived  in  Paris,  the  Neo-Impressionists  were 
exhibiting  regularly.  Kupka  made  a  brief  excursion  into  divisionism  (see 
cat.  nos.  1,  8)  but  quickly  retreated  from  all  forms  of  pointillism,  declaring 
them  a  dishonest  approach  to  color  and  light.  He  looked  at  Redon  (see  cat. 
no.  4)  and  Toulouse-Lautrec  (see  cat.  no.  12),  but  may  have  found  their 
softly  colored  light-filled  compositions  too  dependent  on  symbolic  or  psy- 
chological associations.  It  was  not  until  after  c.  1906  that  color  for  its  own 
sake  began  to  assert  itself  in  his  work. 

Some  of  the  1906  paintings  are  distinctly  Northern  in  feeling,  in  the  full 
sensuous  volumes,  rich  gestural  brushstroke  and  the  dissonances  of  juxta- 


67 


posed  colors  (see  cat.  no.  17).  Others,  slightly  later,  have  the  controlled 
brushwork  and  delicately  keyed  hues  of  the  French  Fauves  (cat.  no.  27). 
Impulsive  or  carefully  controlled,  these  works  show  an  artist  exploring  the 
function  of  color  and  concomitantly  seeking  a  personal  style. 

The  Yellow  Scale  (cat.  no.  29)  is  Kupka's  first  attempt  to  come  to  terms 
with  color  theory  in  which  the  result  is  both  personal  and  successful.  In  this 
enigmatic  portrait  of  1907-08,  Kupka's  debt  to  Neo-Impressionism  and  even 
Symbolism  is  obvious.  The  dominant  yellow  hues  evoke  Gauguin  and  van 
Gogh,  painters  Kupka  admired  at  that  time.  Furthermore  the  loosely  ren- 
dered features  of  the  sitter  indicate  that  he  was  not  aiming  for  a  re- 
semblance, but  attempting  a  symbolic  evocative  image.  Like  Mallarme, 
to  whom  Kupka  often  made  allusions,  he  was  seeking  harmonies  and 
chords.39  But  beyond  its  symbolic  associations,  both  the  painting's  title  and 
the  restricted  palette— confined  to  the  constituents  of  the  chromatic  scale 
of  yellow— suggest  an  allusion  to  color  theory  and  probably  to  Chevreul. 

Chevreul's  best-known  work,  De  la  loi  du  contraste  simidtane  des  coul- 
eurs  of  1839,  was  a  bible  for  the  Neo-Impressionist  and  Nabi  painters  who 
diffused  his  teachings  in  both  theoretical  discussions  and  practice.  Partic- 
ularly popular  was  his  famous  law  of  simultaneous  contrast,40  first  defined 
in  this  publication  and  elaborated  in  many  others.  Most  of  Chevreul's  major 
works  (his  bibliography  is  extensive)  were  accompanied  by  lithographic 
plates  of  chromatic  circles  (cercles  chromatiques)  and  chromatic  scales 
(gamines  chromatiques).  Conceived  not  only  for  the  primaries  but  for  mixed 
colors,  the  high  quality  of  the  plates  captured  all  the  nuances  of  each 
chromatic  progression.  Kupka's  painting  The  Yellow  Scale  (La  Gamme 
jaune)  shows  all  the  variations  of  orange  and  yellow  in  Chevreul's  "Yellow- 
Orange  Chromatic  Scale"  (Gamme  chromatique  orange- jaune). 

Aside  from  a  general  allusion  to  color  theory,  in  his  depiction  of  green 
hair,  Kupka  may  be  referring  to  an  obscure  volume  of  1875,  L'Enseignement 
devant  l' etude  de  la  vision  by  Chevreul.  Here  the  author  presents  an  anec- 
dote in  support  of  his  theory  of  simultaneous  contrasts,  in  which  he  explains 
that  gray  or  blond  hair  may  appear  greenish  or  bluish  when  seen  in  a  favor- 
able light.  He  explains  that  an  optical  effect  of  this  sort  is  produced  by  a 
juxtaposition  with  golden,  pinkish  or  orange  skin.  We  have  no  proof  that 
Kupka  knew  this  book;  yet  his  painting  illustrates  Chevreul's  unusual  ex- 
ample of  simultaneous  contrast. 

Kupka's  allusions  to  color  theory  were  usually  more  empirical  than 
systematic.  Yet  he  did  adhere  to  a  number  of  basic  laws  which  he  referred 
to  constantly  in  the  major  body  of  his  writings  between  1910-13.  He  made 
a  firm  distinction  between  prismatic  and  pigmentary  color,  based  on  his 
belief  that  light  is  a  coefficient  of  color  and  that  color  does  not  exist  without 
light.  His  most  frequent  references  were  to  the  facts  that  red  advances,  blue 
recedes  in  space;  black  and  white  are  determinants  of  color  intensity;  the 
interaction  of  juxtaposed  colors  depends  on  their  position  on  the  spectrum; 
a  spinning  color  wheel  either  dilutes  the  intensity  of  the  original  hues  or 
turns  them  to  gray  or  white;  large  areas  have  a  different  impact  and  emo- 
tional value  than  small. 


39  See  p.  309. 

40  The  law  of  simultaneous  contrast 
most  simply  stated,  concerns  the 
reciprocal  modification  in  hue,  tone, 
intensity  between  two  juxtaposed 
colors  viewed  in  simultaneity. 


<S8 


41  Exposition  H.  E.  Cross,  Galerie 

Bernheim  Jeune,  Paris,  April  zi-May 
8,  1907;  Paul  Signac,  Galerie  Bern- 
heim Jeune,  Paris,  January  21- 
February  2,  1907. 


In  his  writings  he  referred  to  the  theories  of  Newton  and  Herschel, 
Helmholz  and  Ogden  Rood  and  Charles  Blanc  indiscriminately.  He  was 
also  familiar  with  Signac's  D'Eugene  Delacroix  au  neo-impressionnisme, 
first  published  in  1899,  the  second  (191 1)  edition  of  which  remained  in  his 
library  until  his  death. 

Between  1906  and  19 10,  Kupka  experimented  widely.  As  suggested  ear- 
lier, his  personal  style  of  expression  began  to  emerge  around  1908.  Yet 
obviously  Kupka  was  dissatisfied  with  The  Yellow  Scale's  inchoate  or 
amorphous  composition.  He  subsequently  began  to  articulate  his  surfaces 
more  visibly  with  strips  or  pastilles  of  color.  Not  surprisingly,  his  first  ex- 
periments in  this  direction  are  congruent  with  his  first  studies  of  motion.  In 
fact,  evidence  of  his  researches  in  both  color  and  motion  are  contained  in 
the  Woman  Picking  Flowers  series  (cat.  nos.  46-51). 

The  function  of  color,  as  Kupka  began  to  conceive  of  it,  was  to  structure 
space.  He  devised  a  system  of  large  colored  planes  which  cannot  be  mixed 
by  the  eye,  which  are  not  equivalent  to  shading  or  modeling  and  which  dic- 
tate the  rhythmic  structure  of  the  composition  (see  cat.  no.  42).  Kupka 
admittedly  derived  this  solution  from  the  Neo-Impressionist  example.  He 
even  referred  to  the  planes  as  an  enlarged  pointillism.  Since  the  first  exam- 
ples of  this  technique  are  seen  in  his  work  around  1908  (see  cat.  no.  35), 
perhaps  he  was  inspired  by  H.  E.  Cross'  or  Signac's  latest  work,  exhibited 
in  Paris  in  1907. 41 

All  of  Kupka's  written  notes,  starting  1910-11,  express  a  consistent  at- 
tempt to  define  painting  as  a  specifically  two-dimensional  non-illusionistic 
activity.  In  this  context,  a  plane  of  color  can  be  subordinated  to  nothing 
else.  It  functions  as  area,  hue,  coefficient  of  light;  it  is  a  given  term  in  a 
relationship  to  white,  to  related  values  or  contrasting  hues.  In  and  of  itself 
it  determines  the  rhythmic  structure  of  the  perceptual  field. 

The  1910  oil  Family  Portrait  (cat.  no.  44)  presents  a  summation  of 
Kupka's  chromatic  experiments  over  the  preceding  years.  A  sumptuous 
composition,  built  on  color  alone,  it  encompasses  two  different,  almost  con- 
tradictory notions  of  how  color  as  plane  may  function.  Divided  virtually 
on  the  diagonal,  the  brilliant  luminosity,  broad  masses  and  clarity  of  con- 
tour of  the  lower  left  triangle  contrast  sharply  with  the  busy  mosaic  of  dark 
graded  colors,  applied  in  short  even  square  strokes,  which  animate  the 
remaining  area. 

The  highly  saturated  planes  of  the  woman's  dress  achieve  a  flatness  un- 
precedented in  Kupka's  work.  This  is  due  not  only  to  the  absence  of  model- 
ing but  to  the  choice  and  disposition  of  colors.  As  noted  above,  Kupka 
believed  that  red  and  warm  colors  advance,  whereas  blue  and  cool  colors 
recede  in  space.  Here  he  has  reversed  these  axioms  and  the  colors'  usual 
roles.  The  areas  of  blue  appear  as  broad  sunstruck  planes  whereas  the  jag- 
ged red  stripes  elicit  shadows,  describing  the  folds  and  creases  of  the 
woman's  garment  as  they  underscore  her  arms,  her  spine,  her  buttocks  and 
thighs.  The  paradox  is  intensified  as  the  red  becomes  warmer,  the  blue 
colder  through  their  juxtaposition.  Finally  the  orange  line  which  inscribes 
the  woman's  silhouette  is  similarly  contradictory  in  its  function.  The  warm- 


69 


est  color  on  the  canvas,  it  has  been  assigned  a  role  as  shadow.  Lying  con- 
tiguous to  areas  of  red,  it  pushes  the  latter  hue  back  toward  violet  or  blue. 
As  a  result  of  this  complex  color  play,  all  the  volumes  in  this  area  level  out 
into  a  broad  flat  pattern  of  jagged  shapes. 

In  contrast  to  these  broad  brilliant  masses,  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
canvas  is  articulated  as  a  dull  non-reflecting  mosaic  pattern.  The  short 
tessera-like  strokes  are  in  mixed  and  dulled  secondary,  even  tertiary  colors, 
from  deep  blue  to  green  to  yellow,  brown  and  violet.  Since  the  local  color 
is  no  longer  white  but  black,  most  light  is  absorbed  rather  than  reflected. 

Thus  Family  Portrait  illustrates  two  entirely  different  ways  of  articulating 
a  flat  surface:  the  first  through  luminous  vibration,  the  second  through  pat- 
tern. Both  were  legacies  of  Neo-Impressionism,  although  Kupka  adapted 
the  Neo-Impressionist  example  to  different  ends.j2  Although  Kupka  will 
continue  to  use  the  modularized  brushstroke  to  animate  a  surface  through 
1911,  his  real  understanding  of  color  was  prismatic:  color  as  a  quantity  and 
quality  of  light;  planes  of  color  generating  their  own  optical  vibration.  This 
will  be  the  basis  of  all  his  subsequent  experiments.  It  will  be  an  important 
factor  in  his  dissolution  of  the  image  and  evolution  toward  abstraction. 

Despite  the  pictorial  tensions  inherent  in  Family  Portrait,  it  is  essentially 
a  static  composition.  An  interpretation  of  space  as  a  flattened  perceptual 
field,  it  is  structurally  articulated  by  broad  or  tightly  knit  planes,  reflection 
and  refraction,  contrasts  and  passages. 

Whereas  the  concurrent  series  Woman  Picking  Flowers  shows  the  analysis 
and  synthesis  of  a  temporal  progression,  Large  Nude  and  Family  Portrait 
helped  Kupka  define  his  chromatic  vocabulary  and  spatial  syntax.  The 
translation  of  a  subject  seen  in  a  sequence  of  positions  into  an  abstract  idea 
of  simultaneity  and  finally  to  abstract  rhythms  alone  was  as  dependent  on 
the  dissolution  of  the  object  through  color-light  as  on  its  temporal  decom- 
position. The  interpenetration  of  figure  and  space,  the  fusion  of  present  and 
remembered  perceptual  images  could  only  be  achieved  through  a  coinci- 
dence of  spatial  and  temporal  dimensions. 

Kupka's  development  toward  this  objective  was  characteristically  long 
and  painstaking.  Between  1908  and  1910,  the  artist  executed  a  series  of 
pencil  and  colored  pencil  studies  of  movement,  inspired  by  his  stepdaughter 
Andree  playing  with  a  ball  in  the  garden  (cat.  nos.  32,  45,  61,  62).  One  of 
these  drawings  (cat.  no.  45)  contains  a  dissection  into  planes  and  leads  into 
the  Woman  Picking  Flowers  series.  The  others  are  based  on  circular  motion 
and  show  a  diagraming  of  corporal  gestures  into  predominantly  circular 
rhythms  and  an  attempt  to  encompass  figure  and  space  in  one  integrated 
pattern.  In  a  first  stage,  Kupka  schematized  the  child's  body  according  to 
its  essential  contours  and  silhouettes  (cat.  no. 32a).  Next  he  superimposed 
circles  on  the  body  extending  its  muscular  rhythms  into  the  ambient  space 
(cat.  no.  32b).  Occasionally  at  the  intersections  of  circles  and  limbs  (or  cir- 
cles and  circles),  he  shaded  the  enclosed  area  emphasizing  its  identity  as  a 
quadrant  or  plane. 

Obviously  the  interpenetration  of  figure  and  ground  was  the  crucial  con- 
cept in  these  drawings.  However  Kupka  did  not  find  these  diagrams  con- 
vincing. In  the  right  margin  of  one  he  noted:  "Here,  only  the  surfaces  are 


42.  The  Neo-Impressionists  achieved 
luminous  vibration  through  the 
divisionist  technique  in  which  pure 
hues,  applied  in  juxtaposed  dots,  pro- 
duce an  optical  mixture  and  an  opti- 
cal flicker.  Although  this  technique 
inspired  Kupka,  he  did  not  adopt  it. 


70 


dissected;  the  concept  of  atmospheric  copenetration  is  still  to  be  found.  As 
long  as  there  is  a  difference  between  the  ground  colors  and  the  flesh,  I  will 
fall  once  again  into  photographic  post  card  imagery."  (cat.  no.  32.b). 

The  idea  of  "atmospheric  copenetration,"  or  fusion  of  figure  and  ground 
through  the  dissection  of  a  figure  into  flat  open  planes,  was  to  be  an  analyt- 
ical Cubist  and  Futurist  concern.  The  French  group  would  concentrate 
on  a  cohesive  spatial  scaffolding  resulting  in  static  and  monochromatic 
imagery.  The  Italians,  oriented  toward  the  depiction  of  continuous  motion, 
would  tend  to  underplay  formal  spatial  arrangements,  resulting  in  dis- 
articulated images.  Kupka  sought  to  develop  an  organic  network  of  color 
planes  which  would  act  as  both  spatial  and  temporal  referents  and  generate 
dynamic  visual  rhythms. 

In  slightly  later  sketches,  the  visual  and  conceptual  boundaries  between 
the  figure  as  physical  entity  and  the  gesture  as  virtual  entity,  between  closed 
colored  planes  and  open-ended  motion  are  progressively  undermined.  The 
Oval  Mirror  of  19 10  (cat.  no.  53)  shows  an  early  attempt  to  resolve  these 
contradictions  on  canvas.  However,  despite  the  multiplication  of  contours, 
the  circular  rhythms  and  the  suggestion  of  atmospheric  copenetration  seen 
in  this  monochromatic  image  of  reflected  and  actual  forms,  the  picture  re- 
mains essentially  static.  Finally,  in  Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue,  1910-11  (cat. 
no.  63),  Kupka  comes  close  to  a  solution  in  which  the  temporal  dimension 
is  engendered  by  the  manipulation  of  color  planes. 

The  subject  is  a  revolving  anthropomorphic  figure  which,  as  it  turns, 
assimilates  aspects  (light,  color,  space)  of  its  environment  into  its  own 
ambiguous  silhouette.  An  analysis  of  this  image  reveals  a  composite  silhou- 
ette drawn  from  all  the  studies  inspired  by  the  Girl  ivith  a  Ball  and  even  from 
the  Womati  Picking  Floiaers  series.  The  central  vertical  structure  is  common 
to  them  all.  The  kinetic  dimension  of  the  image  is  produced  by  the  planes 
of  color  which  advance  or  recede,  become  denser,  dissolve  or  change  in  key, 
each  transformation  signifying  a  modified  position  in  space  and  time.  The 
colored  rhythms  in  the  lower  area  are  the  slowest  and  most  compact;  they 
connote  legs,  ambiguously  clothed  but  partially  visible,  which  shift  from  a 
frontal  to  a  profile  view,  nonetheless  remaining  within  the  restricted  keys 
of  red  and  blue.43  In  contrast,  the  bright  intersecting  arabesques  in  the  upper 
portion  of  the  canvas,  which  weave  in  and  out,  forward  and  backward, 
elicit  a  compound  image  of  swift  curving  gestures.  These  variegated  loops 
composed  of  splintered  color  and  light  follow  a  chromatic  progression 
which  maintains  their  structural  and  temporal  continuity.  The  dominant 
oval  on  the  left  moves  rapidly  through  the  spectrum  from  green  to  yellow 
to  orange.  It  signifies  pure  gesture,  a  visual  imprint  infused  with  light.  Con- 
versely, the  smaller  red  and  blue  loop  on  the  right,  despite  its  flickering 
divided  color,  evokes  a  more  stable  presence,  echoing  the  lower  denser 
portion  of  the  silhouette. 

The  preliminary  sketches  described  earlier  reveal  the  morphology  of  this 
complex  dynamic  image.  Yet  the  artist  seemed  to  realize  that  this  painting 
did  not  make  his  premises  totally  clear.  His  interest  in  cinematography  and 

43  Compare  the  legs  here  to  those  seen  his  Study  of  Color  the°r>'  had  taU§ht  him  that  motion  is  a  sequence  of  equal 

in  the  Woman  Picking  Flowers  series.  consecutive  phases  whereas  color  is  a  juxtaposition  of  even  consecutive 


7i 


hues  and  tones.  Moved  by  a  desire  to  make  the  temporal  and  spatial  dimen- 
sions coincide  in  an  image  intelligible  as  color  and  rhythm  alone,  he  decided 
to  try  a  more  systematic  approach.  He  would  calibrate  gestures  and  colors 
simultaneously  on  a  grid. 

His  decision  was  not  arbitrary.  Kupka  believed  that  the  perceptual  field 
appears  to  us  as  a  grid  structure  composed  of  planes  and  accents  enmeshed 
in  an  all-over  rhythm.  The  last  version  of  the  Woman  Picking  Flowers  series 
shows  this  eloquently.  In  his  notes  of  the  same  years  in  which  this  series 
was  executed,  he  described  the  recollection  of  a  dream  as  a  kind  of  skeletal 
grid  pattern.4'  Elsewhere  he  notes:  "The  screen  of  squares  one  lays  over  a 
sketch  which  one  intends  to  enlarge  gives  it  a  rhythm.  This  is  probably  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  thus  acquires  a  unity,  a  dominant  element.'"15 

In  contrast  to  the  elliptical  imagery  of  Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue, 
Planes  by  Colors  of  the  same  year  (cat.  no.  59)  is  a  gridded  or  screened 
image  of  the  same  subject,  a  figure  pivoting  in  space.  The  central  axis  of  the 
radiating  motion  is  blue;  it  denotes  the  densest  and  purest  color  and  the 
most  compacted  action.  As  the  arms  pivot  around  this  core,  they  dissolve 
in  motion,  mix  with  light  and  slide  through  the  spectrum  from  shades  of 
green  to  yellow-greens  to  oranges  and  yellows.  In  contrast  to  the  densely 
woven  concentrated  image  of  the  trunk  of  the  figure,  the  gestures  retain  little 
presence.  The  transparent  prisms  imply  gestures  which  have  been,  are  or  will 
be.  Redefined  as  equal  intervals  in  space,  equal  intervals  in  time,  equal 
intervals  on  the  color  spectrum,  the  figure's  limbs  have  the  presence  or  non- 
presence  of  after-images;  they  are  trace  imprints  in  light,  space  and  time. 

Kupka's  support  was  two-dimensional.  Yet  any  image  of  rotational 
movement  carries  connotations  of  virtual  volume  or  depth.  In  order  to  dis- 
pel this  illusion,  once  again  Kupka  reversed  the  color-values'  usual  roles, 
placing  the  most  luminous  tints  or  light-reflecting  values  in  the  background 
and  the  darker  cooler  tones  in  the  frontal  plane.  The  result  of  this  reverse 
chiaroscuro  is  a  unified  surface  plane. 

Planes  by  Colors  inspires  two  chromatic  readings.  For  both  interpre- 
tations, one  must  imagine  a  view  of  the  figure  from  the  top  in  which  the 
torso  acts  as  a  central  blue  core  or  axis.  The  first  reading  likens  the  con- 
figuration to  a  traditional  color  wheel  in  which  each  consecutive  gesture, 
attached  to  the  center,  corresponds  to  a  different  chromatic  segment  leading 
out  from  the  nucleus.  The  second  reading  again  takes  the  torso  as  a  core, 
this  time  circumscribed  by  continuous  bands  or  haloes  of  color,  from  a  red- 
green  around  the  central  axis  to  ever  lighter  shades  of  orange  and  green  and 
finally  to  a  yellow-white  at  the  outer  rim.  Both  interpretations  are  based 
on  the  notion  of  an  even  progression  of  color,  either  around  a  circle  in 
juxtaposed  wedges,  or  rippling  out  in  circumscribed  bands.46 

Now  that  Kupka  had  developed  a  new  pictorial  syntax  based  on  even 
and  consecutive  time-space  intervals,  he  returned  to  the  more  ambiguously 
dynamic  Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  and  recast  its  essential  imagery.  In  Red 
and  Blue  Disks  (cat.  no.  71),  he  reduced  the  gesturing  figure  shifting  on  the 
grass  to  a  red-blue  core.  Taking  each  gesture  of  the  original  image,  he  trans- 
lated it  into  a  chain  of  axially-connected,  overlapping  disks  rippling  out- 
ward from  the  center.  Each  evenly  cadenced  chain  of  disks  — like  transparent 


44  For  exact  quotation,  see  p.  61. 

45  Kupka,  Manuscript  I,  p.  26  (incor- 
rectly numbered  22). 

46  Of  course,  a  third  reading  (see  pp.  63- 
64  above)  is  that  of  vertical  planes 
lined  up  in  spectral  progression 
across  the  two-dimensional  surface 
of  the  canvas. 


72- 


47  Ogden  N.  Rood,  Modern  Chromatics 
with  Applications  to  Art  and  In- 
dustry, London,  1879,  p.  26  (French 
translation  Theorie  scientifique  des 
conleurs,  Paris,  1881,  p.  16.) 


circular  blades  of  color  whirling  out  from  the  center— is  limited  virtually  to 
a  single  key.  The  upper  left  segment  is  predominantly  yellow.  Consecutively, 
and  counter-clockwise,  color  progresses  to  green,  then  to  blue  in  the  lower 
right  area  and  up  through  a  deep  orange  to  light  oranges  and  reds.  Although 
this  sequence  of  chromatic  zones  follows  loosely  the  order  of  the  spectrum, 
as  well  as  the  chromatic  order  in  the  original  painting,  the  complex  inter- 
lacing of  orders  in  time  and  layers  in  space  destroys  any  literal  reading.  The 
ripples  of  swiveling  color  and  light  are  as  ephemeral  as  a  gesture.  Yet  they 
transcend  the  notion  of  bodily  movement  to  suggest  cosmic  motion  in  time 
and  space. 

Since  Kupka  conceived  of  man  as  a  microcosm  of  a  greater  order,  whose 
being  reflects  those  grander  rhythms,  his  passage  from  the  human  to  the 
cosmic  dimension  was  pictorially  logical  and  consistent  with  his  beliefs. 
1911  is  the  year  of  passage  from  figuration  to  abstraction,  from  the  par- 
ticular to  the  universal,  from  the  phenomenal  world  to  the  noumenal  idea. 

The  next  series,  the  Disks  of  Newton  of  1911-12,  are  pure  studies  of  color. 
All  allusions  to  earthly  experience,  that  is,  allusions  to  human  time  and 
space  have  been  discarded.  References  to  human  displacement,  modeling, 
shading,  perspective  are  irrelevant.  The  imagery  is  situated  in  a  cosmic  void. 

The  first  Disks  of  Newton  (cat.  no.  73)  comprises  three  series  of  disks 
set  off  against  a  black  or  dark  blue  background.  The  largest  disk  configura- 
tion consists  of  concentric  bands  of  color  laid  out  according  to  Herschel 
and  Young's  color  table.  This  table  was  published  in  Ogden  Rood's  Modern 
Chromatics  of  1879.47  Kupka  copied  it  and  referred  to  it  frequently,  pre- 
ferring it  to  Newton's  theories  which  he  found  outdated.  The  Herschel- 
Young  table  calculated  the  relative  length,  density  and  velocity  of  the  wave 
lengths  of  color,  from  red  (shortest  waves,  lowest  number  per  square  inch, 
lowest  number  per  second)  to  purple  (longest  waves,  highest  number  per 
square  inch,  highest  number  per  second).  This  analysis  of  color  became 
fundamental  to  Kupka's  thinking.  He  even  devised  a  theory  of  the  shapes 
of  color  which  he  illustrated  in  a  series  of  paintings  after  World  War  I. 
(see  cat.  no.  168) 

Kupka  knew  that  a  spinning  disk  alters  if  it  does  not  annihilate  its  own 
color.  The  pure  clearly  differentiated  hues  of  the  upper  disk  imply  that  it 
is  static.  By  contrast,  the  two  remaining  disks  have  no  secure  identity;  they 
draw  their  tenuous  substance  and  hues— like  those  of  a  rainbow— from  the 
dominant  image  behind  them.  The  spiraling  circle  in  the  right  foreground, 
as  it  cuts  through  the  bands  of  pure  color  behind  it,  generates  three  circum- 
scribed bands  of  prismatic  mixtures.  As  the  disk  in  the  lower  left  shifts 
forward  in  three  consecutive  phases,  it  is  transmuted  from  a  compartmented 
arc  in  the  key  of  blue,  to  a  continuous  band  in  its  complementary  orange, 
then  yellow,  to  a  spinning  disk  of  pure  white  light. 

Situated  between  the  Planes  by  Color  and  Amorpha,  Fugue  (cat.  no.  92.), 
one  would  be  tempted  to  call  this  painting  "Theme  and  Variations  on 
Color."  The  parts  or  voices  are  distinctly  separate  yet  entirely  interde- 
pendent and  clearly  derived  from  one  and  the  same  theme.  The  organic 
structure  and  rhythmic  counterpoint  make  this  painting  a  fitting  prelude 
to  the  Fugue. 


73 


The  second  Disks  of  Newton  (cat.  no.  75)  is  more  densely  woven,  more 
ambiguous,  more  dynamic.  Although  it  evolves  directly  from  the  Red  and 
Blue  Disks,  the  composition  is  completely  severed  from  its  original  anthro- 
pomorphic inspiration  and  severed  from  the  bottom  edge  of  the  canvas; 
the  disks  swirl  and  revolve  freely  in  space. 

In  the  Red  and  Blue  Disks,  each  cluster  of  colored  disks  fanned  out  along 
a  radial  axis  in  a  tonal  progression  from  the  center  of  the  composition  to 
the  frame.  Each  of  these  zones  of  graded  color  was  juxtaposed  laterally  to 
its  contiguous  color  zone  on  the  color  wheel  so  that  a  sense  of  consecutive 
movement  around  a  center  was  achieved.  In  the  Disks  of  Neivton,  Kupka 
abandons  these  methodical  sequences.  Although  the  zones  of  light  and 
color  echo  the  original  composition  as  the  transparent  disks  radiate  out 
from  the  center,  and  although  broad  areas  of  the  painting  are  still  defined 
by  a  dominant  hue,  the  distribution  of  color  is  less  systematic.  Interspersed 
accents  of  complementaries  and  random  mixtures  with  white  or  black 
heighten  the  intensity  of  the  composition  through  contrast. 

The  transparent  webbing  of  the  colored  disks  destroys  any  illusion  of 
volume  or  depth.  Although  the  red  center  advances  toward  the  viewer  and 
anchors  the  image  at  some  point  in  space,  the  spinning  haloes  massed 
around  it  are  spatially  undetermined.  Thus  Kupka  arrives  at  a  more  im- 
mediate and  intuitive  dynamic  image  based  on  the  tensions  generated  by 
form  and  color  alone,  finally  freed  from  subject  matter,  illusionistic  devices 
and  theoretical  premises. 

Kupka's  Disks  of  Neivton  are  often  compared  to  the  solar  disks  of  Robert 
Delaunay.  The  comparison  is  apt,  although  the  relationship  between  the 
two  artists  is  not  clear.  Kupka  and  Delaunay  had  many  friends  in  common, 
artists  and  writers  who  visited  back  and  forth  between  Paris  and  Puteaux. 
Delaunay  himself  visited  Puteaux  upon  occasion.  Although  Kupka  was  a 
member  of  the  Puteaux  group  starting  in  1911,  his  participation  in  their 
activities  was  sporadic.  Older  than  most  of  the  participating  artists,  ac- 
cording to  some  eyewitnesses  he  was  upset  because  they  did  not  consider 
him  a  mentor.48  He  also  felt  they  leaned  too  far  toward  Cubism.  Further- 
more, he  was  known  to  complain  bitterly  that  when  he  showed  them  his 
work,  they  picked  up  his  ideas.  By  19 13,  according  to  his  correspondence 
with  Roessler49  and  other  first-hand  accounts,  he  had  retired  into  relative 
seclusion.50 

Clearly,  Kupka  was  never  a  Cubist.  He  passed  directly  from  a  form  of 
Fauvism  to  a  post-Cubist  idiom,  in  which  spatial  structure  derived  from 
units  of  color  and  motion,  two  pictorial  components  which  were  outside 
the  sphere  of  pure  Cubist  theory  and  practice.  Still  more  peculiar  to  Kupka's 
personal  style  was  his  identification  of  consecutive  color  with  consecutive 
motion,  or  a  sequential  unfolding  of  measures  of  color.  Ultimately,  as  we 
have  seen,  through  his  interpenetration  of  space  and  time,  he  arrived  at  the 
dissolution  of  the  object  and  sublimated  it  into  an  abstract  image  of  the 
kinetic  dimension.  Thus  he  bypassed  Futurism  as  well. 

Delaunay,  on  the  other  hand,  was  more  closely  involved  with  the  Cubist 
and  Neo-Impressionist  traditions,  as  expressed  through  fragmentation,  con- 
trast and  complementarity  of  forms,  light  and  color.  His  1909-11  Eiffel 


48  Interviews  (1974)  with  Gabrielle 
Buffet-Picabia,  who  attended  the 
Puteaux  meetings  and  Juliette 
Gleizes.  Although  Mme.  Gleizes  was 
not  present  at  the  meetings,  she  re- 
ported her  husband's  impressions. 

49  See  p.  47  above. 

50  Again,  Gabrielle  Buffet-Picabia 
reported  that  the  Puteaux  artists 
complained  that  Kupka  refused  to 
participate  in  their  discussions,  even 
though  he  lived  next  door  to  Villon's 
house,  where  weekly  meetings  were 
held. 


74 


Towers,  for  example,  are  disjointed  and  twisted  in  a  writhing  spatial  con- 
tinuum. Rising  among  tortured  cityscapes,  shards  of  light  and  burgeoning 
or  brittle  cloud  formations,  they  are  beautiful  and  broken  images  whose 
intensity  is  enhanced  by  sharply  defined  color  contrasts.  As  Apollinaire  said 
about  Delaunay's  paintings  of  this  period,  they  showed  "forms  fractured 
by  light." 

Only  his  most  nuanced  works,  the  19 12  Windows  series,  show  a  subtle 
unification  of  plane,  color  and  light.  The  diffuse  flicker  which  skims  the 
surface  of  these  paintings  is  punctuated  by  passages  and  contrasts  much  in 
the  manner  of  Cezanne.  Here  color  generates  a  web  of  structure;  the  laws 
of  complementarity  are  ignored. 

Delaunay's  Disks,  or  Sun  and  Moon  pictures,  begun  in  19 13,  on  the  con- 
trary show  a  more  contrasted  palette.  The  segments  of  flat  pure  pigment 
suggest  a  more  systematic  approach  to  color.  In  these  paintings,  Delaunay 
sought  to  portray  motion  through  color  interaction.  At  first  glance,  many 
of  his  Disks  appear  more  lively  than  Kupka's  evenly  scaled  progressions. 
However  a  closer  look  reveals  that  the  former  are  singularly  non-dynamic. 
Just  as  a  spinning  color  wheel  loses  its  intensity— dissolving  into  tonal 
values  or  becoming  gray  or  white— the  brightly  contrasted  intervals  of 
Delaunay's  Disks  arrest  them  peremptorily  in  space. 

Although  at  least  one  of  Delaunay's  Disks  is  dated  19 12,  no  works  of 
this  series  were  exhibited  in  his  January  1913  one-man  exhibition  in  Berlin. 
He  sent  three  paintings  to  the  New  York  Armory  Show  in  March  1913,  but 
no  Disks  were  among  them.  His  first  references  to  them  are  in  his  letters 
of  April  to  June  1913.  In  particular,  in  a  letter  to  Macke  of  June  1913,  he 
expresses  his  excitement  about  these  new  works  based  on  the  structure  of 
color.  He  first  exhibited  his  Disks  late  in  1913,  at  the  Berlin  Herbstsalon. 
They  were  not  shown  in  France  until  after  World  War  I.51 

Without  drawing  any  conclusions  about  the  nature  of  Delaunay's  re- 
lationship to  Kupka,  the  priority  of  Kupka's  circular  color  forms  can  be 
securely  argued.  Furthermore,  Kupka's  interest  in  rotational  form  went  far 
beyond  the  theorizing  about  motion,  color  and  light  then  in  fashion.  The 
study  of  these  phenomena  were  merely  dimensions  of  Kupka's  concept  of 
the  function  of  painting,  which  was  to  capture  the  rhythmic  unity  and 
diversity  of  the  cosmos.  As  we  have  seen,  Kupka's  development  followed 
a  single  unswerving  path:  from  the  microcosm  of  human  experience  to  the 
intuited  rhythms  of  the  Final  Cause. 


51  The  author  is  grateful  to  Virginia 
Spate  for  clarifying  the  dates  and 
facts  relating  to  Delaunay's  Disks. 


Kupka  and  the  Cosmic  Order 

The  Final  Cause  was  in  fact  Kupka's  primary  cause.  It  is  evident  that  a 
teleological  vision  was  the  subliminal  source  of  Kupka's  aesthetic.  His  early 
mystical  experiences,  his  clairvoyant  sensibility,  his  exposure  to  German 
Romantic  philosophy,  Theosophy  and  occult  disciplines  shaped  an  ap- 
proach to  the  work  of  art,  even  in  formal  terms,  which  set  him  apart  from 
his  French  contemporaries.  Despite  his  attempts  to  rid  himself  of  the  in- 
fluences of  his  Central  European  background,  the  imprint  of  his  original 
intellectual  and  spiritual  milieu  would  leave  an  indelible  mark.  What  Kupka 


75 


learned  in  Paris,  concerning  motion,  color  and  the  function  of  painting 
itself,  was  a  vocabulary  and  syntax  with  which  to  express  his  inner  vision. 
But  his  vision  would  remain  peculiarly  his  own. 

For  Kupka,  the  mission  of  the  artist  was  a  cosmic  one,  and  this  point  of 
view,  as  well  as  the  style  and  content  of  his  thinking  as  seen  in  his  1910-11 
notes,  show  a  definite  debt  to  Goethe.  Kupka  obviously  read  Goethe  in 
Prague  or  Vienna;  Goethe  was  one  of  the  most  pervasive  cultural  influences 
of  the  time.  Even  earlier,  Studnicka  may  have  referred  to  Goethe's  color 
theory.  However  any  early  knowledge  was  surely  revitalized  by  Kupka's 
reading  of  Rudolf  Steiner  who,  starting  in  1883,  edited  and  annotated 
Goethe's  writings  on  art  and  published  his  own  essays  on  Goethe's  aes- 
thetics. Through  Steiner,  many  aspects  of  Goethe's  artistic  philosophy  fil- 
tered into  the  basic  ideology  of  the  Munich  Theosophical  group. 

Kupka's  most  fundamental  premises— that  nature  has  a  spiritual  reality 
determined  by  final  causes,  that  the  hidden  laws  of  this  reality  are  present 
in  all  of  nature's  manifestations  including  man  and  that  the  artist's  function 
is  to  make  visible  these  laws,  not  by  copying  nature  but  by  creating  a 
parallel  order— spring  from  Goethe's  aesthetic.  More  specifically,  Kupka's 
terminology  echoes  Steiner's  formulation  of  Goethe's  thought.  For  example, 
Steiner  discusses  Goethe's  discovery  that  "the  Beautiful  is  not  ...  an  Idea 
in  the  form  of  a  sensory  phenomenon,  but  a  sensory  phenomenon  in  the 
form  of  an  Idea.""*2  Parallel  to  this,  Kupka  noted  on  the  first  page  of  his 
1910-n  notebook,  "Formerly  I  was  seeking  to  give  form  to  an  idea;  now 
I  am  seeking  the  idea  which  corresponds  to  the  form."53 

In  this  context,  Kupka's  philosophy  of  art  presents  striking  analogies 
with  that  of  Kandinsky.  This  was  apparent  even  during  Kupka's  lifetime, 
since  he  always  argued  defensively  that  he  discovered  Kandinsky's  Uber  das 
Geistige  in  der  Kunst  in  19 13,  when  his  ideas  and  his  abstraction  were 
already  fully  formulated.  The  most  obvious  similarities  in  the  two  artists' 
thought  are  in  the  concept  of  a  hidden  necessity  or  hidden  laws  in  nature; 
the  idea  that  art  does  not  copy  nature  but  is  subjected  to  the  same  cos- 
mic order;  and  the  notion  that  whereas  the  artist's  vision  or  interpretation 
of  the  universal  order  may  be  subjective,  the  means  of  transmission— the 
medium— must  be  objective.54  Since  both  Kupka  and  Kandinsky  were  in- 
debted to  Goethe's  aesthetic  and  to  Steiner's  interpretation  of  it55,  it  seems 
apparent  that  neither  artist  influenced  the  other  but  both  were  drawing  on 
the  same  source. 

Kupka's  study  of  the  natural  sciences  was  consistent  with  his  ideology. 
Through  a  better  understanding  of  natural  causes,  rhythms,  structures  and 
progressions,  he  hoped  to  develop  a  parallel  vision,  order  and  language. 
His  interest  in  physiology,  biology  and  astronomy  therefore  had  their  roots 
in  mystical  thought.  By  extension,  he  paid  acute  attention  to  his  own  sense 
impressions  and  evoked  coenesthesis  as  a  form  of  access  to  higher  knowl- 
edge. Through  a  close  observation  of  his  own  body's  rhythms,  reactions  to 
stimuli,  sense  perceptions,  emotional  responses,  he  attempted  to  develop  a 
sixth  sense,  an  extrasensory  receptivity  which  he  believed  led  to  a  state  of 
superconsciousness,  a  term  Kupka  appropriated  from  H.  P.  Blavatsky. 


52  See  discussion  in  Sixten  Ringbom, 
"Art  in  'The  Epoch  of  the  Great 
Spiritual,'  "  journal  of  the  "Warburg 
and  Courtauld  Institutes,  London, 
XXIX,  1966,  pp.  390-391. 

53  Kupka,  Manuscript  I,  p.  1. 

54  Seep.  48  above. 

55  See  Ringbom,  op.  cit.,  for  discussion 
of  Kandinsky  in  this  context. 


76 


The  Theosophical  concept  of  superconsciousness  is  equivalent  to  that  of 
clairvoyant  vision  or  a  hypnotized  trance.  In  this  experience  the  perceiver's 
relationship  to  matter  and  space  is  altogether  different  from  that  of  con- 
scious perception.  The  objects  perceived  exist  as  disconnected  fragments; 
they  have  no  defined  spatial  position,  no  volume,  no  gravity.  They  have  no 
utilitarian  function,  no  relation  to  the  laws  of  lived  or  conceptualized 
reality.  They  are  seen  only  in  terms  of  intensity  of  existence,  profundity  of 
significance  and  relations  within  their  immediate  pattern.56  Space  itself, 
free  from  the  constraints  of  conceptual  thought,  is  determined  by  neither 
depth  nor  relationships;  it  does  not  exist  as  an  organic  whole.  Colors  have 
the  intensity  of  preternatural  and  non-verbalized  experience.  Supercon- 
sciousness allows  one  to  see  worlds  in  a  plot  of  grass,  as  Kupka  said  to 
Roessler  in  1913.57 

Through  his  experience  as  a  medium  and  his  life-long  receptivity  to 
visions,  Kupka  was  predisposed  to  superconsciousness  and  conversant  with 
the  kind  of  perceptions  it  made  accessible.  In  an  early  letter  from  Paris  to 
Roessler,  Kupka  describes  a  clairvoyant  vision  which  is  revealing  of  the 
extra-worldly  dimension  of  his  experience— the  insights  and  images  which 
he  accepted  as  quite  normal:  "Yesterday  I  had  a  mood  of  split  conscious- 
ness where  it  seemed  that  I  was  observing  the  globe  from  the  outside.  I 
was  in  great  empty  space  and  saw  the  planets  rolling  quietly.  After  that  it 
was  difficult  to  come  back  to  the  trivia  of  everyday  life."51 

Since  Kupka  believed  that  the  artist  was  a  visionary,  his  clairvoyant  per- 
ceptions were  eminently  meaningful  to  him  as  reflections  of  a  supercon- 
scious  state.  They  provided  the  structure  of  much  of  his  imagery.  In  1912- 
13,  he  described  the  artist's  relationship  to  inner  visions  in  the  following 
terms: 


56  Many  of  the  terms  used  here  are 
borrowed  from  Aldous  Huxley's 
descriptions  of  the  mescalin  experi- 
ence, in  The  Doors  of  Perception  and 
Heaven  and  Hell,  New  York,  1963, 
particularly  p.  2.0.  The  drug-induced 
trance  is  comparable  to  the  experi- 
ence of  clairvoyance  or  hypnosis. 

57  See  p.  47  above. 

58  Letter  to  Roessler,  February  7,  1897. 

59  Kupka,  Manuscript  II,  p.  28. 

60  Annie  Besant  and  C.  W.  Leadbeater, 
Thought-Forms,  Wheaton,  Illinois, 
1971,  p.  27.  First  published  in  English 
in  1 901,  French  translation  1905, 
German  translation,  1908.  The  author 
is  grateful  to  Yvonne  Hagen  for 
bringing  this  book  to  her  attention. 

61  See  Ringbom,  op.  cit.,  pp.  397-398 
and  his  fn.  73. 


In  our  inner  visions,  the  different  fragments  which  float  in  our  heads  are  inco- 
herently situated  in  space.  Even  in  remembered  so-called  representative  images 
of  organic  complexes,  they  are  so  strangely  situated  that  the  painter  .  .  .  who 
woidd  wish  to  project  them  would  have  to  go  even  beyond  the  fourth  dimension. 
Some  parts  penetrate  each  other;  others  seem  completely  detached,  discon- 
nected from  the  organism  to  which  they  are  supposed  to  belong.  The  same  is 
true  of  purely  subjective  visions  where  often  only  fragments,  plexuses  of  forms, 
or  colors  are  given.  Before  we  can  seize  them  and  set  them  down,  we  must  draw 
lines  between  them  and  establish  a  structural  coherence.  But  often  they  will 
never  form  a  coherent,  logical  or  intelligible  whole.59 

Thus  the  artist  organizes  his  imaginary  or  mental  images  and  tries  to 
project  them  in  concrete  form.  A  Theosophical  text  about  clairvoyant 
images,  Annie  Besant's  and  C.  W.  Leadbeater's  Thought-Forms,  formulates 
the  same  visualizing  process:  ". . .  the  painter  who  forms  a  conception  of  the 
future  picture  builds  it  up  out  of  the  matter  of  his  mental  body,  and  then 
projects  it  into  space  in  front  of  him,  keeps  it  before  his  mind's  eye,  and 
copies  it."60  Although  this  particular  passage  refers  to  figurative  images  de- 
rived from  material  objects,  another  passage  evokes  images  (or  "thought- 
forms")  which  express  pure  feeling  or  thought.  Apparently  the  Nabis  and 
the  Cubists  knew  this  text,  and  Kandinsky  referred  to  it  frequently.61 


77 


Kupka's  visionary  sensibility  and  his  cosmic  philosophy  united  to  form  a 
peculiar  notion  of  higher  reality.  In  turn,  this  notion  of  a  higher  reality  in- 
fluenced his  concept  of  space.  His  mystical  background  helps  us  to  under- 
stand the  fundamental  spatial  contradictions  in  his  art.  Although  Kupka 
spoke  frequently,  sometimes  obsessively,  of  the  two-dimensional  specificity 
of  the  painter's  art,  at  other  times  he  as  easily  evoked  the  fourth  or  fifth 
dimension.  This  theoretical  inconsistency  is  reflected  equally  strongly  in  his 
paintings.  Only  occasional  works  can  be  defined  as  strictly  two-dimensional. 
More  often,  there  is  an  ambiguous  allusion  to  spatial  depth,  a  fourth  di- 
mension which,  as  defined  by  Apollinaire,  "represents  the  immensity  of 
space  eternalizing  itself  in  all  directions  at  any  given  moment.  It  is  space  it- 
self, the  dimension  of  the  infinite  .  .  .  "62 

In  fact,  it  would  be  valid  to  say  that  Kupka's  theories  were  not  only  in- 
consistent, they  were  incompatible  with  his  vision.  His  vision,  based  on 
forms  in  nature  elevated  to  the  status  of  an  idea,  dictated  his  images  and 
their  spatial  context.  Many  components  of  his  vision  are  recognizable.  They 
derive  from  crystals  of  frost  on  a  window,  the  organic  structure  of  a  flower, 
stalactite  and  stalagmite  concretions,  the  concentric  ripples  of  water,  pre- 
historic Celtic  stone  formations,  banks  of  clouds,  photographs  or  models  of 
the  moon  and  planets.  Kupka  selected  these  phenomena  as  manifestations 
of  major  natural  laws.  Disembodied  as  they  passed  through  the  filter  of  his 
superconsciousness,  the  incarnate  laws  were  translated  into  abstract  pic- 
torial ideas. 

Kupka's  concept  of  cosmic  rhythms  and  cosmic  space  is  most  literally 
depicted  in  the  body  of  work  inspired  by  reproductions  of  the  moon.  The 
artist  may  have  seen  the  large-scale  model  of  the  moon  displayed  at  Uccle 
where  he  visited  Onesime  Reclus  in  1909. S3  He  devoured  journals  on  astron- 
omy and  was  an  assiduous  visitor  to  the  Observatoire,  the  Palais  de  la 
Decouverte  and  the  Musee  des  Arts  et  Metiers,  where  photographs  of  the 
moon  and  planets  were  displayed. 

Kupka  appropriated  the  image  of  the  moon  and  the  space  surrounding  it 
first  almost  literally,  then  as  a  basic  spatial  framework  for  many  studies  of 
the  period  1909-14.  In  the  latter  case  he  created  an  infinite  undetermined 
space  of  cosmic  implications  within  which  can  be  seen  a  reminiscence  of  the 
moon's  surface  (cat.  nos.  77-78).  This  lunar  impression  remains  at  an  unde- 
fined distance  from  the  surface  plane.  Sometimes  it  suggests  concavity,  a 
tunnelling  through  space  to  boundless  depths;  at  other  times  the  back- 
ground appears  as  a  bulge,  which  nonetheless  never  disrupts  the  frontal 
plane. 

A  series  of  paintings  started  in  19  n  effectively  and  explicitly  captures  this 
infinite  yet  ambiguous  recessive  depth  (cat.  nos.  80,  81).  Pulsating  organic 
matter  and  free-floating  clouds  swell  forward,  in  sharp  contrast  to  a  dra- 
matic thrust  into  luminous  and  infinite  depth  in  the  central  area.  The  circu- 
lar rhythms  which  inform  the  whole  composition  project  a  sense  of  dynamic 
biomorphic  growth  and  cosmic  gravitation.  Some  more  reductive  studies 
which  continue  to  explore  this  kind  of  space  show  a  silhouette  of  revolving 
intertwined  bands  in  the  left  foreground,  set  off  against  a  luminous  zone  of 


61  Apollinaire,  Les  Peintres  cubistes, 
1913,  Chapter  3.  English  translation 
from  Edward  F.  Fry,  op.  cit.,  p.  116. 

(see  fn.  31). 

63  This  hypothesis  was  first  suggested 
by  Fedit  in  her  preface  to  exhibition 
catalogue,  Kupka  avant  1914,  Paris, 
Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  1966,  n.p. 


78 


infinitely  receding  color,  bounded  on  the  right  by  an  arc  of  light.  Again  a 
nebulous  sense  of  perspective  is  created. 

The  cosmic  theme  could  assimilate  and  reinforce  other  pictorial  pre- 
occupations such  as  rotational  dynamics  and  the  theatrical  use  of  colored 
light.  Arbitrary  spatial  articulation  was  also  justified  by  it.  For  inasmuch  as 
cosmic  gravitation  implies  attraction  to  a  pole  which  may  be  anywhere  in 
space,  Kupka  was  freed  from  the  necessity  of  dealing  with  gravity  or  per- 
spective in  conventional  terms. 

Kupka's  emancipation  from  traditional  spatial  conventions  was  essential 
to  his  vision  and  is  illustrated  in  a  broad  variety  of  themes  initiated  during 
the  period  1911-14.  These  themes  provided  the  formal  and  conceptual 
framework  of  his  oeuvre  for  approximately  the  next  fifteen  years.  Through- 
out their  development,  his  forms  shifted  back  and  forth  between  biomor- 
phic  and  geometric  schemata,  softly  graded  tonal  compositions  and  brittle 
brightly  contrasted  patterns.  But  the  artist's  preoccupations  remained  con- 
sistent: the  rhythms  of  growth  or  expansion,  consecutive  or  cyclical  motion, 
the  dynamic  interplay  of  color  and  light. 

The  painting  Around  a  Point  (cat.  no.  160)  is  the  consummate  expression 
of  Kupka's  vision.  The  clear  syncopated  rhythms  of  dissected  circles  spin- 
ning around  telescoping  axes,  the  chromatic  juxtapositions  which  recall  the 
highlights  and  tonal  shading  of  floral  and  faunal  nature,  intermittently 
broken  or  fused  by  zones  of  hot  white  light  and,  finally,  the  monumental 
scale  of  the  image  which  swells  to  bursting  beyond  the  frame,  evoke  a  su- 
preme cosmic  vision. 


64  Apollinaire,  op.  cit.,  Chapter  7.  En- 
glish translation  from  Fry,  op.  cit.,  p. 
117. 

65  See  Nicolas  Bauduin,  "Les  Temps 
heroiques,  a  propos  du  Salon  de  la 
Section  d'Or,"  Masques  et  Visages, 
no.  39,  June  1956^.7. 

66  See  pp.  310-11,  fn.  6. 


Most  histories  of  twentieth-century  art  identify  Kupka  as  an  Orphic 
painter.  Orphism,  or  Orphic  Cubism,  as  defined  by  Apollinaire  "is  the  art 
of  painting  new  structures  with  elements  which  have  not  been  borrowed 
from  the  visual  sphere,  but  have  been  created  entirely  by  the  artist  himself, 
and  been  endowed  by  him  with  fullness  of  reality.  The  works  of  the  orphic 
artist  must  simultaneously  give  a  pure  aesthetic  pleasure;  a  structure  which 
is  self-evident;  and  a  sublime  meaning,  that  is,  a  subject.  This  is  pure  art."64 
Apollinaire's  examples  included  Picasso,  Delaunay,  Leger,  Picabia  and  Du- 
champ.  Kupka's  name  is  not  mentioned. 

Apollinaire  coined  his  definition  in  the  autumn  of  1912,  apparently  at  the 
Section  d'Or  exhibition.  Eyewitnesses  writing  several  decades  later  reported 
that  Apollinaire  invented  the  term  in  front  of  Kupka's  paintings,  calling 
attention  to  their  self-generating  dynamics  ("cette  peinture  puisant  son 
dynamisme  en  elle-meme")  and  comparing  them  to  music.65  There  is  still 
some  question  as  to  whether  this  event  actually  took  place.66  In  any  case, 
Kupka  was  never  satisfied  with  the  Orphic  designation.  He  expressed  his 
displeasure  on  many  occasions,  explaining  that  a  comparison  of  his  work 
with  music  was  an  extreme  simplification,  and  solely  based  on  the  inclusion 
of  musical  terms  in  his  titles. 

Apollinaire's  understanding  of  Kupka's  art  as  representative  of  Orphic 
Cubism  is  not  only  a  simplification  but  inexact.  Kupka's  reference  to  music 


79 


or  poetry  was  of  no  more  significance  than  that  of  Seurat  or  Signac  or  any 
of  the  other  artists  who  evoked  the  notion  of  correspondences  between  the 
arts.  In  Kupka's  case,  the  musical  terms  were  intended  to  discourage  the 
viewer  from  looking  for  literal  subject  matter  and  stimulate  him  to  consider 
chromatic  and  structural  rhythms  alone.  Although  Kupka's  art  may  be 
superficially  related  to  Cubism  in  his  rejection  of  volume  and  perspective, 
his  aesthetic  may  as  plausibly  be  associated  with  that  of  many  other  artists. 
It  echoes  Seurat  in  the  combination  of  the  metaphysical  and  the  scientific;  it 
is  parallel  to  Futurism  in  the  artist's  understanding  of  motion  and  light  as 
the  only  two  forces  which  can  penetrate  and  dissolve  matter;  it  shows  anal- 
ogies with  Mondrian  and  Kandinsky  in  its  reference  to  a  cosmic  order. 

On  a  more  fundamental  level,  Apollinaire's  terminology  is  inappropriate 
in  that  it  reflects  the  emphasis,  common  among  writers  of  the  period  19 10- 
13,  upon  the  priority  of  the  conceptual  over  the  perceptual  experience.  For 
the  Cubist  painter,  the  conceptual  reality  of  an  object  was  superior  to  its 
perceived  reality.  He  therefore  complemented  what  he  saw  with  what  he 
knew,  moving  around  the  object  to  capture  all  facets  of  its  outer  appearance 
and  presenting  them  in  simultaneity. 

Apollinaire  notwithstanding,  Kupka  did  borrow  from  the  visual  sphere, 
as  did  all  the  artists  the  poet  named  in  this  context.  Kupka's  subject  was 
perceptual  reality.  His  aesthetic  did  not  allow  him  to  discard  the  forms  of 
nature  and,  like  the  Cubists  and  even  Kandinsky  and  Mondrian,  distill  his 
lived  experience  into  abstract  schemas  and  ciphers.  For  Kupka,  the  spiritual 
reality  or  cosmic  order  which  governs  nature  is  present  in  natural  forms. 
Fhe  phenomenon  is  not  a  symbol;  it  is  an  order  incarnate.  And  without  the 
particular  configuration  of  each  manifestation  in  the  phenomenal  world, 
the  order,  idea  or  noumen  would  be  invisible  and  inaccessible  to  human 
understanding. 

For  Kupka,  the  artist's  role  is  to  decipher  the  idea  inherent  in  the  phenom- 
ena of  perceptual  experience,  and  to  present  concrete  forms  where  the  idea 
is  clearly  visible.  Thus  Kupka  aspired  to  an  imagery  in  which  a  richness  of 
sensuous  presence,  a  clarity  of  structure,  and  rhythmic  implications  of  dy- 
namic change  would  simultaneously  express  the  true  nature  of  experience 
in  both  physical  and  metaphysical  terms. 


80 


CATALOGUE  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 


by  Margit  Rowell 


The  chronology  and  dating  of  the  individual  works  are  the  author's.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  Kupka  rarely  dated  works  at  the  time  of  their  execution.  Most  of 
his  dates  were  given  retrospectively  at  the  time  of  his  1946  Prague  exhibition.  The 
dates  of  the  present  catalogue  are  based  on  exhibition  histories,  the  artist's  notes 
and  letters,  and  stylistic  considerations. 

Citations  of  Fedit  and  Vachtova  refer  to  Denise  Fedit,  L'Oeuvre  de  Kupka,  Paris, 
1966  and  Ludmila  Vachtova,  Frank  Kupka,  Pioneer  of  Abstract  Art,  New  York  and 
Toronto,  1968. 

Complete  information  is  cited  here  only  for  exhibitions  which  do  not  recur  and  in 
which  only  one  or  two  works  appear.  Full  information  for  all  other  exhibitions 
is  given  in  the  selected  exhibitions  list,  pp.  318  to  322..  *  denotes  one-man  show. 
Names  of  exhibitions  are  given  only  for  Salons;  the  names  of  galleries  are  included 
but  museum  names  are  listed  only  when  necessary  to  distinguish  between  two  or 
more  exhibitions  taking  place  in  the  same  city  in  one  year.  In  cases  of  traveling 
exhibitions  with  a  single  catalogue,  only  the  year  in  which  the  show  originated 
is  given.  However  in  circulating  exhibitions  where  each  institution  produced  its 
own  catalogue,  or  where  the  painting  was  not  shown  at  all  participating  museums, 
separate  dates  are  listed. 

MNAM  is  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne,  Paris 

MOMA,  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York 

NG,  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

SRGM,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York 

fdenotes  not  in  exhibition 


Si 


1 1     Money  (U  Argent).  1899 

Oil  on  canvas,  31 7s  x  31  %" 
(81  x  81  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  16,  repr.  p.  44 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O2191) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jindrich  Waldes 

to  present  owner,  1940 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Pisek— CeskeBudejovice,  1961, 
no.  1 

Dobruska,  1962 

"Prague,  1968,  no.  11,  repr. 


One  of  Kupka's  more  obviously  Symbolist  paintings,  Money  shows  the  influence 
of  Segantini  (in  the  fine  pin-striping  of  the  woman's  body)  and  of  Ensor  (in  the 
row  of  demonic  figures  in  the  right  background  and  in  the  palette).  Segantini  was 
well  known  in  Eastern  and  Western  Europe  at  the  turn  of  the  century  and  exhibited 
in  Vienna  in  1896  and  1898  in  shows  Kupka  probably  saw.  He  also  exhibited  in 
Paris  in  1898  and  his  work  was  widely  reproduced.  As  for  Ensor,  the  gallery 
La  Plume  held  a  retrospective  of  his  work  in  1898,  and  the  magazine  of  the  same 
name  devoted  a  special  issue  to  him.  Kupka  himself  exhibited  prints  at  the  gallery 
in  1899,  and  the  Ensor  issue  of  La  Plume  remained  in  his  library  until  his  death. 

A  pastel  drawing  of  the  same  subject  is  signed  and  dated  1899  (NG,  Prague). 
A  dedication  to  Machar  was  added  later.  The  theme  of  the  lurid  fascination  of 
money  would  be  taken  up  again  in  Kupka's  1902  illustrations  for  L'Assiette  au 
beurre.  The  woman  depicted  is  Kupka's  friend  Gabrielle. 


82 


83 


1 2     The  Way  of  Silence  (La  Voie  du 
Silence).  1900? 

Pastel  on  paper,  22%  x  25%" 

(58.1  x  65  cm.) 

Signed  and  inscribed  Ir  "Kupka  quam 

ad  causam  sumus" 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jindrich  Waldes 

to  present  owner,  1940 


Although  drawn  in  Paris,  the  subject  of  sphinxes  and  the  philosophical  query 
"Quam  ad  causutn  sumus"  ("Why  are  we  here?")  are  carry-overs  from  the  artist's 
Viennese  years.  When  Kupka  arrived  in  Paris,  he  tried  to  escape  from  what  he 
considered  decadent  metaphysical  inquiry  and  find  his  sources  of  inspiration  in 
the  perceptual  world.  Nonetheless,  until  c.  1902-03,  themes  of  this  sort  persist. 
The  central  figure  is  the  artist's  self-portrait. 


84 


3     Black  Idol  or  Defiance  (L'Idole 
noire  or  La  Resistance,  La  Revoke, 
L'Entetement).  1900 

Colored  aquatint,  ijVs  x  15" 
(44.8  x  38.2.  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  1,  repr. 
Vachtova,  addenda  cat.  no.  1 

Collection  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York, 
Gift  of  Andree  Martinel-Kupka,  1975 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Andree  Martinel-Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift 


1  Slatkine  reprints,  Geneva,  1968,  p.  49. 


Among  the  several  titles  of  this  aquatint,  the  Prague  version  is  called  La  Resistance, 
the  Paris  version  L'Entetement,  and  photographs  which  remained  in  Kupka's 
possession  were  marked  on  the  back  La  Revoke.  All  seemed  to  mean  essentially 
the  same  thing  to  Kupka,  best  translated  in  English  as  Defiance,  and  all  were 
probably  added  somewhat  later.  The  aquatint  is  an  illustration  for  Poe's  "Dream- 
land," in  which  the  first  stanza  reads: 

By  a  route  obscure  and  lonely, 

Haunted  by  ill  angels  only, 

Where  an  Eidolon,  named  NIGHT, 

On  a  black  throne  reigns  upright, 

I  have  reached  these  lands  but  newly, 

From  an  ultimate  dim  Thule— 

From  a  wild  weird  clime  that  lieth,  sublime, 

Out  of  SPACE  -out  of  TIME. 

Kupka  did  many  variations  on  this  theme  (mostly  pencil  drawings)  in  which  the 
idol  is  seen  facing  different  directions.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  Kupka's  image 
to  a  drawing  by  Fernand  Fau,  reproduced  in  La  Plume,  no.  234,  of  January  15, 
1899, '  representing  Le  Destin  (Fate)  as  a  monumental  and  menacing  single  statue- 
like figure  seated  amidst  the  ripples  of  a  whirlpool. 

According  to  Fedit  (p.  29),  there  was  a  painting  on  this  theme  (present  where- 
abouts unknown). 


85 


The  Beginning  of  Life  or  Water 
Lilies  (Les  Nenuphars).  1900 

Colored  aquatint,  13%  x  i35/s" 
(34.5x34.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  2,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  10  889-Gr.) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


1  Quoted  from  Robert  Welsh,  in  Piet 
Mondrian,  1872-1944:  Centennial 
Exhibition,  New  York,  The  Solomon 
R.  Guggenheim  Museum,  1971,  p.  46. 


Known  both  as  Water  Lilies  and  The  Beginning  of  Life,  the  first  title  is  surely 
incorrect.  Since  this  is  probably  the  illustration  of  a  Theosophical  idea,  the  flowers 
are  certainly  lotus.  This  identification  of  the  flowers  is  supported  by  the  watercolor, 
The  Soul  of  the  Lotus  (1898)  in  which  exactly  the  same  blossoms  are  found.  The 
Theosophical  subject  is  described  by  Madame  Blavatsky  in  Isis  Unveiled  (first 
published  in  1877):  "Man  is  a  little  world— a  microcosm  inside  the  great  universe. 
Like  a  foetus,  he  is  suspended  by  all  his  three  spirits,  in  the  matrix  of  the  macro- 
cosmos;  and  while  his  terrestrial  body  is  in  sympathy  with  its  parent  earth,  his 
astral  soul  lives  in  unison  with  the  sidereal  anima  mundi.  .  .  ."I  The  depiction  of 
the  fetus  is  quite  naturalistic,  reflecting  Kupka's  interest  in  the  natural  sciences.  The 
coloring  and  atmosphere  of  Kupka's  aquatints  of  this  period  evoke  Redon,  an  artist 
he  knew  and  admired  not  only  for  his  use  of  color  but  for  his  mystical  insights. 


86 


5     The  Witches  (Les  Sorcieres). 
1900-01 

Pastel  on  paper,  io1/^  x  ioVi" 
(z6  x  2.6  cm.) 

Unsigned 

Collection  Nancy  Schwartz 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Estate  of  the  artist 

Karl  Flinker 

to  present  owner 


This  pastel  may  be  inspired  by  Kupka's  interest  in  Edgar  Allen  Poe,  and  may  even 
allude  to  Poe's  "The  Black  Cat,"  a  story  which  illustrates  the  superstitious  belief 
that  a  black  cat  is  a  witch  in  disguise.  This  pastel  relates  to  a  group  of  drawings 
of  c.  1898-1900  in  which  Kupka  depicted  women  identified  as  witches  in  mys- 
terious, sometimes  supernatural,  settings.  Some  of  these  drawings  reveal  a  debt  to 
Felicien  Rops,  another  artist  published  by  La  Phone,  whom  Kupka  admired.  The 
most  prominent  woman,  with  blond  hair,  probably  represented  Maria  Bruhn. 
Gabrielle  is  seated  behind  her  on  the  right.  The  rocks  in  the  foreground  resemble 
those  found  on  the  seacoast  at  Tregastel  where  Kupka  spent  the  summer  of  1900. 
They  are  found  in  many  works  of  1900-01. 


87 


\G     Illustration  for  Sova's  Ballad. 
1901-02 

Ink  on  paper,  n3A  xS" 
(30  x  2.0. z  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(K  12.397) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1949 


This  is  a  preliminary  drawing  for  the  illustrations  of  Balada  o  jednom  cloveku  a 
jeho  radostech  [Ballad  of  a  Man  and  his  joys],  by  the  Czech  poet  Antonin  Sova 
(1864-1928),  published  in  1903.  The  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague,  owns  at  least  two 
of  these  drawings  which  show  Kupka's  typical  illustrational  style  of  the  period. 
The  two  women  in  this  drawing,  here  mounted  on  men's  shoulders,  are  the  same 
as  those  on  horseback  in  Ballad-Joys  (cat.  no.  8).  This  motif,  together  with  the 
similar  title,  suggests  that  the  literary  work  may  have  been  a  catalyst  for  the 
painting. 


t7     Study  for  Ballad-Joys.  1901-02 

Colored  crayons  on  white  paper, 
17%  x  nVs"  (44.1  x  28.3  cm.) 

Unsigned 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(K4986) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jindfich  Waldes 

to  present  owner,  1940 


In  sharp  contrast  to  the  many  academic  studies  Kupka  did  for  Ballad-Joys,  this 
drawing  shows  a  completely  dematerialized  silhouette  seemingly  composed  of 
auras  of  colored  light.  The  supernatural  impression  produced  suggests  an  astral 
rather  than  a  physical  portrait  of  Kupka's  friend  Gabrielle. 


s9 


■ 


9° 


|8     Ballad- Joys  (Epona-ballade). 
1901-02 

Oil  on  wood,  32%  x  49%" 
(83.5  x  126.5  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i90i" 

Vachtova,  no.  17,  repr.  p.  51;  color 
pi.  1 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O1822) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

K.  E.  Schmidt,  1902 
George  Barbier,  Paris 
Jindrich  Waldes,  May  1932 
to  present  owner,  1940 

exhibitions: 

Paris,  1902,  no.  663,  repr. 

St.  Louis,  1904,  no.  165  (as  Joy) 

"Prague,  1906,  no.  56 

''Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  2 

(dated  1902) 
''Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  3  (dated 

1901) 
*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 

no.  2 
Hluboke— Brno,  1966,  no.  221 
''Prague,  1968,  no.  12,  repr. 
"Belgrade,  1969,  no.  1,  repr. 


When  Kupka  painted  this  canvas,  he  was  deeply  immersed  in  the  study  of  pagan 
antiquity  and  symbolism.  The  painting  is  sometimes  called  Epona-ballade,  a  title 
found  on  a  label  on  the  reverse,  which  refers  to  the  Roman  goddess  Epona,  pro- 
tectress of  horses,  mules  and  donkeys.  Perhaps  of  Celtic  origin,  she  was  particularly 
honored  in  Gaul,  Germania  and  the  valley  of  the  Danube. 

However  Kupka's  personal  symbolism  may  be  more  complex.  In  letters  to 
Machar  of  around  the  same  period,  he  wrote  that  he  felt  as  vigorous  as  a  colt 
and  was  doing  many  studies  of  horses.  The  two  women  depicted  have  been  identi- 
fied as  his  past  and  present  loves,  Maria  Bruhn  and  Gabrielle.  Since  the  Sova 
illustration  (cat.  no.  6)  shows  the  same  two  women  on  human  male  mounts,  the 
horses  here  may  be  symbolic  of  male  partners,  or  even  of  Kupka  himself. 

That  Kupka's  ambitions  were  more  general  or  allegorical  is  indicated  in  a  letter 
to  Machar  of  1902:  "Using  subtle,  quite  simple  means  I  want  to  express  something 
of  what  I  felt  when  I  used  to  sit  alone  on  the  seashore  ....  The  seashore  and  the 
clouds  are  humming  with  some  unknown  joy.  In  the  air  thousands  of  elves  seem 
to  dance  about  joyfully  ....  All  of  us  have  a  desire  for  joy,  for  some  pure  immaterial 
feeling  of  well-being.  I  want  everyone  who  sees  the  picture  to  experience  such 
feelings  . . . ."  (quoted  in  Vachtova,  p.  45) 

The  seascape  which  also  appears  in  many  gouaches  of  the  period  is  inspired 
by  the  beaches  at  Tregastel  in  Brittany.  The  fine  pastel  pin-striping  threaded  with 
white  in  the  sky  once  again  shows  Kupka's  divisionist  style  (see  cat.  no.  1),  seen 
here  probably  for  the  last  time.  When  Ballad  was  exhibited  at  the  1902  Salon 
National  des  Beaux-Arts,  the  landscape  included  high  rock  formations  in  the  right 
background.  At  this  time,  the  painting  belonged  to  Kupka's  friend  the  German  art 
historian  K.  E.  Schmidt.  A  gouache  dedicated  to  Schmidt  depicting  the  same  forma- 
tions is  in  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York  (Window  on  the  Beach,  prob- 
ably 1901,  The  Joan  and  Lester  Avnet  Collection).  By  1903,  when  the  painting  was 
reproduced  in  the  Czech  magazine  Volne  Smery,  the  background  rocks  had  been 
painted  out.  This  canvas  was  obviously  important  to  Kupka,  as  he  showed  it 
frequently  in  the  years  after  it  was  painted.  Ballad-Joys  is  probably  his  last  symbolic 
painting. 


9i 


Horsemen  (Les  Cavaliers). 
1901-02 

India  ink  on  paper,  16  x  2i1/4" 
(40.5  x  54  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 

Paris  (AM  2771— D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


Emile  Reynaud,  Praxinoscope,  invented 
1876,  patented  1877. 


At  least  three  small  pencil  sketches  on  the  same  theme  exist:  The  Museum  of 
Modern  Art,  New  York,  Study  Collection;  Collection  Karl  Flinker,  Paris;  Narodnf 
Galerie  drawings  collection,  Prague.  However  none  of  them  contribute  to  a  more 
secure  dating. 

For  a  discussion  of  this  drawing,  see  p.  54. 


92 


io     The  Sleeper  (La  Dormeuse).  1902 

Etching,  7V8  x  4%"  (18  x  12.5  cm.) 
Signed  11  in  plate  "Kupka" 
Vachtova,  repr.  p.  112.  (dated  1907) 
Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


t 


1  in  Contes  inedits  d'Edgar  Foe,  trans- 
lated from  the  English  by  William  L. 
Hughes,  Paris,  Collection  Hetzel,  E. 
Jung-Treuttel,  1862.,  pp.  303-306. 


Once  again  Kupka  draws  his  inspiration  from  Edgar  Allen  Poe  whose  poem  "The 
Sleeper"  was  translated  into  French  as  "La  Dormeuse"  at  least  as  early  as  1862.1 
The  second  stanza  describes  a  pale  woman  with  long  hair  sleeping  in  a  canopied 
bed  around  which  wild  breezes  move  the  curtains  and  create  fantastic  and  some- 
times terrifying  shadows.  In  earlier  more  literal  versions  of  the  same  theme,  Kupka 
shows  monstrous  forms,  similar  to  those  found  in  Money,  watching  over  the  bed. 
The  vertical  format,  rich  linear  quality  and  taut  arabesque  motifs  recall  Alphonse 
Mucha's  exemplary  Art  Nouveau  style.  The  contrasts  created  by  shading  and 
crosshatching  are  comparabe  to  master  etchers  Kupka  admired  such  as  Rops  and 
Whistler. 

Kupka  did  a  large  number  of  variations  on  this  theme,  some  of  which  are  highly 
contrasted  and  fully  rendered  in  a  more  popular  illustrational  style.  Some  show  a 
dying  rather  than  a  sleeping  woman.  Kupka's  subject  may  be  drawn  in  part  from 
Maria  Bruhn's  death  in  Vienna  in  1898,  which  he  witnessed.  Whatever  the  inspira- 
tion, this  final  etching  appears  to  be  the  most  subtle  distillation  of  the  theme. 
Vachtova  (p.  70)  has  suggested  that  this  etching  was  conceived  as  an  illustration 
for  Mallarme's  "Herodiade."  However,  the  title,  subject  and  inscriptions  on  pre- 
liminary versions  reveal  that  Kupka  was  illustrating  Poe's  poem. 


93 


na-b     Two  special  issues  of  L'Assiette  au 
beurre 

a.  L' Argent  (Money).  1902 

12%  x  9%"  (32.1  x  24.8  cm.) 
Private  Collection,  New  York 

b.  Religions  (Religions).  1904 

i2J/2  x  9%"  (31.8  x  24.8  cm.) 
Private  Collection,  New  York 


Between  1901  and  1904,  Kupka  did  many  satirical  illustrations  for  the  anarchist 
magazine  L'Assiette  au  beurre.  He  was  also  commissioned  for  three  special  issues 
exclusively  illustrated  by  him  on  the  themes  of  Money  (January  n,  1902);  Religion 
(May  7, 1904)  and  Peace  (August  20, 19Q4). 


L'Assiette  au  Beurre 


L'Assiette 
au  Beurre 


PAR 

FRANCOI 

KUPKA 


94 


i  z     Nude  in  Black  Stockings  (Nu  aux 
has  noirs).  c.  1904 

Oil  on  paperboard,  28%  x  15" 
(72.  x  38  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Dr.  Altmayer,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Andree  Martinel-Kupka 

to  present  owner 


Rops,  Les  Exercices  de  devotion  de 
Monsieur  Henri  Roche,  color  etching, 
Courtesy  Lucien  Goldschmidt,  Inc., 
New  York. 


1  Felicien  Rops,  catalogue  raisonne  by 
Maurice  Exsteens,  1918,  vol.  II,  no.  362. 

2  One  thinks  for  example  of  Toulouse- 
Lautrec's  La  Modiste  (The  Hatmaker) 
of  1900,  Musee  d'Albi,  France 


Kupka  did  at  least  two  earlier  paintings  on  this  theme  (NG,  Prague),  as  well  as  one 
known  pastel  (Spencer  A.  Samuels  and  Company,  Ltd.,  1968,  cat.  no.  4).  The 
other  oil  versions  dating  from  1902-03  are  more  conventional  in  color  and  form 
and  place  more  importance  on  the  setting  (furnishings  of  a  dressing-room,  mirrors, 
draperies,  etc.).  The  most  obvious  and  probable  source  of  this  theme  is  an  etching 
by  Felicien  Rops  called  Les  Exercices  de  devotion  de  Monsieur  Henri  Roche  (The 
Devotional  Exercises  of  Monsieur  Henri  Roche)1  showing  a  young  girl  in  black 
stockings  standing  before  her  dressing  table  (fig.).  Yet  Kupka's  style  as  it  has 
developed  here  reveals  a  debt  to  Toulouse-Lautrec.  Since  Kupka  made  posters 
for  night  clubs  in  Montmartre  and  lived  almost  directly  over  Aristide  Bruant's 
cabaret,  he  was  certainly  acquainted  with  the  French  artist's  work.  The  influence 
of  Toulouse-Lautrec  is  seen  in  the  fluidity  of  color,  the  lush  yet  muted  tonal  combi- 
nations and  the  intimate  glow  of  the  composition,  as  well  as  in  the  psychologically 
astute  depiction  of  the  figure's  solitude.2  Most  importantly,  this  c.  1904  painting 
shows  an  early  attempt  to  deal  with  the  autonomous  expressive  powers  of  color. 


95 


fi3     Dancers.  1904-05 

Sanguine  and  charcoal  on  paper, 
i75/8  x  z-lVs"  (44.7  x  53.8  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(K 12751) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1906 


96 


14     Portrait  of  Madame  Kupka  I  (Por- 
trait de  Madame  Kupka  I).  1905 

Oil  on  mattress  ticking,  24%  x  24%" 
(63  x  63  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  ur  "Kupka//is>05;'' 
inscribed  11  "JANVIER//1905" 

Fedit,  no.  13,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  32,  repr.  p.  294 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  3 560- P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  1957 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume  (hors 
catalogue,  information  from  in- 
stallation photograph) 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  8 
-'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  1 


Painted  from  a  photograph  of  Madame  Kupka  which  shows  her  in  an  almost 
identical  position  (see  Fedit,  cat.  no.  13,  p.  33),  this  portrait  reveals  Kupka's  con- 
ventional painterly  style  and  is  one  of  the  earliest  known  examples  of  Kupka  work- 
ing from  a  photograph.  The  date  is  probably  correct  as  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  added  later  as  is  so  often  the  case.  In  1919  Kupka  did  a  replica  of  this  portrait 
at  his  patron  Waldes'  request  (now  in  NG,  Prague). 


M 


>m 


97 


1 5      The  Song  of  Songs  (Le  Cantique 
des  Cantiques).  1905 

15V2  x  11W  (39.4  x  Z9.3  cm.) 
Private  Collection,  New  York 


Kupka  made  three  illustrated  editions  of  The  Song  of  Songs,  published  in  1905, 
19x8  and  1931.  The  illustrations  for  all  three,  executed  before  1909,  reveal  the  full 
range  of  Kupka's  decorative  style  at  that  time,  a  style  which  drew  on  Viennese 
Secession  motifs,  decorative  arts  and  folk  art,  and  show  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  art  of  book  illustration. 


98 


1 6  Standing  Woman,  Study  for  Au- 
tumn Sun  (Femme  debout,  etude 
pour  Soleil  d'automne).  1905 

Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper, 
21 V2  x  15%"  (54.5  x  39  cm.) 

Stamped  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


" 


99 


17     Autumn  Sun  (Soleil  d'automne). 
1905-06 

Oil  on  canvas,  40V2  x  46V&" 
(103  x  117  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  54,  incorrect  repr.  p.  60 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O3835) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1906,  Salon  d'Automne, 
no.  896 

Vienna,  1908,  no.  12 
"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  14 
(dated  1906) 

""Pi'sek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961  (hors 

catalogue) 
'Prague,  1968,  no.  24,  repr. 


The  subject  of  three  women,  usually  allegorical,  was  a  popular  one  at  the  turn  of 
the  century  (Munch,  Klimt  and  others  treated  this  theme).  It  is  therefore  not 
surprising  to  find  it  in  Kupka's  work,  even  though  the  meaning  remains  ambiguous. 

Many  studies  and  at  least  two  oil  paintings1  were  executed  in  preparation  for 
the  canvas  seen  here  in  its  final  form.  Work  on  the  theme  was  probably  started  in 
St.  Prix  during  the  summer  of  1905.  The  apple  tree  in  the  garden  was  used  in 
illustrations  for  The  Song  of  Songs  and  it  occurs  again  here. 

The  thick  impasto,  tonal  density  and  heavily  massed  forms  reveal  an  exposure 
to  Germanic  art,  if  not  a  northern  temperament.  Apparently  Kupka  traveled  to 
Munich  often  after  the  turn  of  the  century,  although  this  is  not  clearly  documented. 

More  interesting  however  is  the  gradual  emergence  of  colored  shadows,  model- 
ing the  figures  in  lavenders,  greens,  turquoises;  planes  of  color  which  are  seen 
again  tentatively  in  the  pastel  for  the  Girl  with  a  Ball  of  1907-08  (cat.  no.  30),  and 
which  adumbrate  Planes  by  Colors:  Large  Nude  of  1909-10  (cat.  no.  42).  The 
vertical  planes  of  horizontal  or  diagonal  brushstrokes  in  the  background  evoke  a 
rhythmic  play  of  light  and  shadow.  They  are  seen  for  the  first  time  here,2  and  they 
will  appear  in  other  works  of  1906  (see  cat.  no.  19,  for  example). 

An  etching  on  this  theme  was  exhibited  at  the  191  o  Salon  d'Automne.  For  further 
references  and  interpretations,  see  Fedit,  cat.  no.  16,  p.  35. 


1  MNAM,  Paris,  first  version;  NG, 
Prague,  second  version 

2  After  painting  the  final  version,  Kupka 
added  similar  vertical  planes  to  the  first 
of  the  two  preparatory  oil  sketches. 


I  C  I 


1 8      Study  after  Autumn  Sun  (Etude 
d'apres  Soleil  d'automne).  1906 

Pencil  on  paper,  7%  x  6%" 
(zox  17.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


1 19     Self -Fortran.  1906 

Oil  on  canvas,  25%  x  255/s" 
(65  x  65  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka  1905" 

Vachtova,  no.  30,  repr.  pp.  104-105 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O  1807) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jindrich  Waldes 

to  present  owner,  1940 

EXHIBITIONS: 

::'Prague,  1906,  no.  133 
Prague,  1939,  no.  301 
Prague,  1950 
Gottwaldov,  1959 
Liberec— Prague,  1959 
Dobruska,  1962 
Hluboke— Brno,  1966,  no.  224 
s'Prague,  1968,  no.  18,  repr. 
"Belgrade,  1969,  no.  3,  repr. 


Although  this  Self  Portrait  is  dated  1905,  there  is  reason  to  believe  it  was  painted 
in  1906.  The  most  compelling  evidence  is  provided  by  a  photograph  which  un- 
doubtedly served  as  a  model  for  the  painting  and  shows  the  artist  in  his  Puteaux 
studio,  where  he  moved  in  the  early  spring  of  1906  (fig.  larger  repr.  page  46).  The 
photograph  shows  documents  of  Kupka's  artistic  activity  which  are  of  interest; 
some  of  the  details  also  point  to  a  r9o6  dating. 


Kupka  in  his  studio,  Puteaux,  c.  1906. 


On  the  far  left  are  drawings  for  the  book  Les  Erinnyes,  which  Kupka  began 
working  on  in  1906.  Two  sketches  are  visible  on  Kupka's  easel:  directly  under  his 
hand  is  a  drawing  for  L'Homme  et  la  terre,  on  which  he  worked  between  1904  and 
1908.  Under  it  one  can  see  a  study  for  Autumn  Sun  (see  cat.  no.  17).  Tacked  to  the 
easel  is  a  torn  paper  showing  Egyptian  figures  in  profile  and  Mycenaen  motifs. 
Kupka  began  looking  closely  at  the  art  of  these  cultures  c.  1906,  in  preparation  for 
Les  Erinnyes. 

On  the  wall  behind  Kupka's  head  is  the  painting  The  Judgment  of  Paris  which 
he  exhibited  at  the  1907  Salon  d'Automne  under  the  title  Project  for  a  Mural 
Painting.  Below  it  hangs  an  antique  scene  of  a  man  with  two  Percherons  and 
women  at  a  well,  a  painting  signed  and  dated  1904,  which  shows  the  influence  of 
Puvis  de  Chavannes.  Finally,  on  the  far  right,  one  can  see  a  large  early  version  of 
Kupka's  Large  Nude  (see  cat.  no.  42),  a  version  which  is  documented  nowhere 
else  and  which  appears  to  have  been  lost. 

In  addition  to  the  evidence  offered  by  this  photograph,  the  painting  itself  is 
more  stylistically  advanced  than  Kupka's  1905  work.  Compared  to  the  Portrait 
of  Madame  Kupka  of  1905  (cat.  no.  14),  for  example,  here  the  clothing  and  back- 
ground show  a  flatter  more  controlled  brushwork.  The  vertical  planes  of  light 
and  shadow  in  the  right-hand  area  were  first  seen  in  the  late  versions  of  Autumn 
Sun,  also  of  1906.  Finally,  examination  reveals  that  the  date  was  added  sometime 
after  the  signature,  a  fact  which  makes  the  accuracy  of  the  date  questionable. 


103 


20     Cabbage  (Le  Chou).  1906 

Oil  on  canvas,  28  Ys  x  3i1/2M 
(72  x  80  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  15,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  46,  repr.  p.  99 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  41 63 -P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  10 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  2,  repr.;  Munich, 

1967,  no.  2,  repr.;  Vienna  1967,  no. 

2;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  3,  repr.; 

Prague,  1968,  no.  26,  repr. 

1  Manuscript  1,  p.  18 


The  subject,  probably  drawn  from  Kupka's  vegetable  garden  in  Puteaux,  illustrates 
his  interest  in  the  organic  structural  rhythms  and  textures  found  in  nature.  In 
Kupka's  191 0-1 1  manuscript,  he  evokes  the  brilliant  white  borders  formed  by  drops 
of  rain  on  a  spider  web,  and  "the  white  velvet  on  the  leaves  of  a  cabbage"  as 
natural  phenomena  full  of  artistic  potential.1  The  loose  spiraling  organic  structure 
around  a  central  core  will  be  found  in  much  of  Kupka's  later  abstract  work.  The 
painting's  rich  yet  datk  tonalities  evoke  a  Northern  painting  tradition,  as  per- 
petuated in  Ensor's  still  lifes,  for  example. 


104 


21     Standing  Woman,  Rear  View 

(Femtne  debout,  vue  de  dos).  1906 

Etching,  9%  x  6V4"  (24  x  15.5  cm.) 
Signed  11  "Kupka"  in  unknown  hand 
Gallien  Collection,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


1  According  to  Andree  Martinel-Kupka, 
in  conversation  with  the  author, 
January  23, 1975. 


This  etching  was  done  from  a  gouache  study  now  in  the  Musee  National  d'Art 
Moderne,  Paris  (Fedit,  cat.  no.  17,  p.  35).  Although  Fedit  identifies  the  gouache 
as  a  preliminary  study  for  Autumn  Sun,  the  similarity  of  pose  to  that  in  Standing 
Bather  (cat.  no.  22),  the  advanced  coloristic  treatment  and  the  flat  horizontal  brush- 
strokes arranged  in  vertical  planes  on  either  side  of  the  figure  suggest  that  the 
gouache  was  painted  after  Autumn  Sun,  probably  during  the  summer  of  1906  at 
Theoule. 

The  etching  is  almost  identical  to  the  gouache;  however  the  animation  produced 
by  color  in  the  original  gouache  has  been  replaced  by  tight  abstract  arabesques 
which  show  Kupka's  debt  to  Rembrandt's  etching  style. 

The  model  is  thought  to  be  Kupka's  wife  Eugenie.1 


105 


2.z     Standing  Bather  (Baigneuse 
debout).  1906 

Pastel  on  gray  paper,  18%  x  11%" 

(48  x  29  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 

Paris  (AM  2762-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


23      Bather  (La  Baigneuse).  1906 

Pastel  on  gray  paper,  11V2  x  15%" 
(29.1  x  40  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  Gift  of  the  Saiden- 
berg  Gallery,  1965 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 

Saidenberg  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner,  gift 


These  two  pastels,  like  the  painting  for  which  they  are  studies,  were  conceived  if 
not  finished  during  a  summer  vacation  at  Theoule  in  1906.  Both  show  the  be- 
ginnings of  Kupka's  "archaic"  style,  influenced  by  his  illustrations  for  Les  Erinnyes 
begun  that  year  (see  fig.  5,  p.  308),  and  subsequently  developed  into  the  "Gigo- 
lettes"  series.  The  first  pastel  is  an  adaptation  of  cat.  no.  21.  The  second,  showing 
a  bather  in  the  water,  was  elaborated  with  the  help  of  a  photograph  of  Kupka's 
stepdaughter  (then  age  five)  playing  in  a  bathtub  in  the  garden  (see  upper  left 
corner).  Other  pastel  and  watercolor  sketches  depict  the  two  bathers  facing  each 
other  on  the  same  sheet.  Since  the  paper  for  these  two  is  the  same  quality  and 
format,  one  can  assume  that  they  were  done  almost  as  pendants  at  the  same  time. 


106 


Water;  The  Bather  (L'Eau;  La 
Baigneuse).  1906-07 

Oil  on  canvas,  24-%  x  3IV8" 
(63  x  80  cm.) 

Signed  II  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  19,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  38,  repr.  p.  143 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4161-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  44 

"Cologne,  1967,  no.  5,  repr.;  Munich, 

1967,  no.  5,  repr.;  Vienna,  1967,  no. 

3,  repr.  p.  25;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 

6,  repr.;  Prague,  1968,  no.  25,  repr. 


1  The  Other  Shore,  1896,  NG,  Prague; 
The  Pond,  1901,  Collection  Karl 
Flinker,  Paris 

2  Manuscript  II,  p.  47 


Based  on  Madame  Kupka  bathing  in  Theoule,  Kupka's  fascination  with  the  laws 
of  nature  is  vividly  illustrated  here.  Although  he  had  done  several  paintings  of 
reflection  on  water,1  he  had  never  shown  forms  immersed  and  disarticulated  by 
water  as  seen  here.  Surely  the  idea  of  the  human  microcosm's  absorption  into  the 
macrocosm  of  nature  appealed  to  him  almost  as  much  as  the  purely  formal  inno- 
vations such  a  subject  permitted.  Moreover  the  pictorial  idea  is  exemplary  of  the 
philosophical  concept:  the  natural  element  of  water  dissolves  what  was  once  a 
discrete  form  into  an  uninterrupted  pattern.  As  Kupka  was  to  say  in  his  manuscript 
of  1912-13,  discussing  the  phenomenon  of  reflection:  "What  adorable  tricks  on  the 
absolute  limits  of  things."2 


- 

££ 


107 


f  25     Study  for  In  the  Bois  de  Boulogne. 
1906-07 

India  ink  on  tracing  paper,  85/s  x  5V2" 

(22  x  14. 1  cm.) 

Unsigned 

Vachtova,  p.  54  (dated  1904) 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(K  5006) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jindrich  Waldes 

to  present  owner,  1940 


f  26     In  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  1906-07 

Oil  on  canvas,  25%  x  25  Va" 

(65  x  65  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//i907" 

Vachtova,  no.  49,  repr.  p.  55 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O1985) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jindrich  Waldes,  1921 

to  present  owner,  1940 

EXHIBITIONS: 

'Tisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

3,  repr. 
^Prague,  1968,  no.  27,  repr. 
"Belgrade,  1969,  no.  5,  repr. 


1  L'Homme  et  la  terre,  vol.  I,  book  IV, 
ch.  II:  "Repartition  des  hommes," 
published  October  25, 1905. 


Around  1906-07,  Kupka's  work  took  a  turn  which  suggests  that  he  was  looking  at 
French  painting  and  moving  away  from  the  heavy  Germanic  and  more  baroque 
models  of  his  past.  At  the  same  time,  he  began  working  on  outdoor  themes  and 
drawing  his  inspiration  from  more  spontaneous  subjects  or  events  in  his  everyday 
existence.  Possibly  this  corresponded  to  his  move  to  a  house  with  a  garden  in  Pu- 
teaux  which  was  close  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  In  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  is  a  good 
example  of  this  development. 

Kupka  did  many  drawings  and  a  few  oil  sketches  on  this  theme.  A  cul-de-lampe 
for  Elisee  Reclus'  L'Homme  et  la  terre1  presents  its  point  of  departure.  It  depicts  the 
proletariat  picnicking  and  dancing  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  on  a  Sunday.  The  class 
of  society  shown  here  is  intentionally  different  from  that  usually  portrayed  by  the 
Impressionists:  the  women  are  hatless  and  in  simple  dress,  the  men  are  in  shirt- 
sleeves and  sport  the  red  anarchist  sash.  The  vertical  divisions  of  the  composition 
are  not  as  innovative  as  they  are  often  assumed  to  be.  They  are  found  in  many  Im- 
pressionist and  Neo-Impressionist  paintings:  in  Manet,  Degas,  Vuillard,  Denis,  Seu- 
rat,  to  cite  a  few  obvious  examples. 


108 


109 


27     Portrait  of  a  Lady.  1906-07 


Oil  on  canvas,  28%  x  26" 
(73  x  66  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 
Vachtova,  no.  45,  repr.  p.  297 
Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O8540) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Jaroslav  Jindra,  Prague 

to  present  owner,  1961 

EXHIBITION: 

"'Prague,  1968,  no.  30,  repr. 


Probably  of  the  same  period  as  In  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  this  portrait  of  a  woman 
seated  in  Kupka's  Puteaux  garden  seems  to  contain  several  references  to  French 
painting.  The  diagonal  line  in  the  background  and  the  open  brushwork  on  a  white 
ground  evoke  Cezanne,  whereas  the  close  patterning  effects  suggest  a  knowledge  of 
Bonnard  or  Vuillard.  Finally  the  brilliant  colors  and  shading  recall  Matisse's  por- 
traits of  Madame  Matisse  of  1905.  A  painting  on  paperboard  of  a  couple  on  the 
grass  dated  1906  (In  the  Garden,  NG,  Prague)  is  even  closer  to  Matisse's  1905  style, 
showing  green  planes  modeled  with  lavender  shadows  on  the  woman's  face. 

The  refined  silhouette  of  the  model— her  small  head,  delicate  profile,  discreetly 
open  neckline  and  layered  sleeves— suggests  that  she  may  have  been  the  model  for 
the  initial  pastels  in  the  Woman  Picking  Flowers  series.  Her  chair  is  the  same  as  that 
in  the  earliest  pastel  shown  here  (cat.  no.  46).  Since  neither  this  painting  nor  the 
pastels  can  be  dated  with  complete  accuracy,  they  may  be  somewhat  closer  in  time 
than  is  indicated  here. 


z8     Study  for  The  Yellow  Scale  (Etude 
pour  La  Gammejaune).  1907 

Charcoal  on  paper,  16 7s  x  14V6" 
(42.8  x  35.5  cm.) 

Stamped  lr"Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Karl  Flinker 

Gimpel  Fils  Ltd.,  London,  1965 

Spencer  A.  Samuels  and  Co.,  Ltd., 

1968 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren  Brandt 

to  present  owner 


"\ 


in 


29      The  Yellow  Scale  (La  Gamme 
jaune).  1907-08 

Oil  on  canvas,  31V6  x  31%" 

(79  x  79  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  Ir  "Kupka//i907" 

Fedit,  no.  18,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  61,  repr.  p.  63 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4165 -P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Collection  Reitz,  Vienna 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1910,  Salon  d'Aatomne, 

no.  676 

s'Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  14  (dated 

1907-09) 
Florence,  1964,  no.  348,  repr. 
^Cologne,  1967,  no.  4,  repr.;  Munich, 

1967,  no.  4,  repr.;  Vienna,  1967,  no. 

4;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  7,  repr.; 

Prague,  1968,  no.  3Z,  repr. 


1  Ruskin,  in  The  Stones  of  Venice, 
quoted  in  Wylie  Sypher,  Rococo  to 
Cubism  in  Art  and  Literature, 
New  York,  i960,  p.  145. 

2  First  published  in  The  World,  May  22, 
1878;  reprinted  in  The  Gentle  Art  of 
Making  Enemies,  first  published,  1890. 

3  Manuscript  I,  p.  17. 

4  Manuscript  II,  p.  55;  paraphrased  here. 

5  Vachtova,  p.  69. 

6  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris.  Repro- 
duced in  Van  Deren  Coke,  The  Painter 
and  the  Photograph,  Albuquerque, 
1972,  p.  46. 


As  the  discussion  on  p.  68  proposes,  The  Yellow  Scale  may  be  understood  as  both 
a  Symbolist  portrait  and  an  inquiry  into  the  laws  of  color  as  disseminated  through 
Chevreul.  In  support  of  the  Symbolist  hypothesis,  one  may  refer  to  many  writers 
and  painters  of  the  late  nineteenth  century.  At  random,  consider  Ruskin  writing  on 
van  Gogh  "He  .  .  .  learned  the  orchestration  of  pure  tone  by  all  the  derivatives  of 
this  tone."  Subject  matter,  said  Ruskin  in  this  reference,  "was  replaced  by  great 
harmonies  of  solid  colors  suggesting  the  total  harmony  of  the  picture.  .  .  ."I  Or 
consider  Whistler,  whose  work  Kupka  knew,  and  who  wrote  in  1878:  "It  is  for 
the  artist  to  do  something  beyond  this  [imitation]:  in  portrait  painting  to  put  on 
canvas  something  more  than  the  face  the  model  wears  for  that  one  day;  to  paint  the 
man,  in  short,  as  well  as  his  features;  in  arrangement  of  colors  to  treat  a  flower  as 
his  key,  not  as  his  model."2 

Kupka  was  to  say  in  1910-11:  "It  is  the  ensemble  of  forms  in  a  human  face  which 
impresses  us  at  first.  It  is  only  afterwards  that  we  understand  the  importance  of 
each  feature."3  In  reference  to  unified  color,  he  wrote  in  1912-13:  "the  atmosphere 
of  a  work  is  more  or  less  its  spiritual  factor.  Atmosphere  in  a  painting  is  achieved 
through  bathing  the  canvas  in  a  single  scale  of  colors  [une  seule  gamme  de  teintes]. 
Naturally  this  can  be  a  scale  of  bright  yellows,  of  brilliant  reds,  as  long  as  there  is 
a  chromatic  unity.  This  is  arrived  at  through  the  elimination  of  complementaries, 
contrasts  and  even  the  diminution  of  light  intensity.  Thus  one  achieves  an  'etat 
d'dme,'  exteriorized  in  luminous  form."4 

Whether  this  is  a  symbolic  portrait  or  an  investigation  of  the  function  of  color, 
the  more  precise  individual  features  of  the  preparatory  sketch  suggest  that  Kupka 
may  have  started  from  a  particular  model.  Vachtova  states  that  it  was  merely  "a 
friend."5  Fedit,  at  Kupka's  suggestion,  refers  to  a  painting  by  Gauguin,  called  Poet 
in  Yellow  (Le  Poete  en  jaune). 

Many  of  the  individual  features  evoke  photographs  of  Baudelaire,  in  particular 
Nadar's  i860  portrait:6  the  hollowed  eyes,  the  irregular  nose,  the  razor-sharp 
mouth,  the  receding  hairline  and  graying  temples.  This  and  other  photographs  of 
the  poet  served  as  models  for  many  artists.  For  example,  Duchamp-Villon's  191 1 
portrait  sculpture  of  Baudelaire  was  apparently  done  from  a  photograph.  Although 
one  cannot  prove  that  Baudelaire  was  Kupka's  model,  one  may  suggest  that  a  pho- 
tograph of  Baudelaire  may  have  contributed  its  general  morphology  to  what  is 
probably  an  imaginary  portrait  of  composite  inspiration. 


112 


H3 


3  o     Girl  with  a  Ball  (Petite  fille  an 
ballon).  1907-08 

Pastel  on  paper,  24  V2  x  18M" 
(62.2.  x  47.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  Gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (567.56) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 


m 


114 


31 


Girl  with  a  Ball  (Petite  fille  an 
ballon).  1908 

Oil  on  canvas,  44%  x  2.7 Vi" 

(114  x  70  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  II  "Kupka//i9o8' 

Fedit,  no.  60,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  69,  repr.  p.  77 
Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  3464-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1956 

EXHIBITION: 

"'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  z 


A  fairly  conventional  and  unpretentious  portrayal  of  Kupka's  stepdaughter  Andrce 
in  the  garden  holding  a  ball,  paradoxically,  this  painting  contains  the  seeds  for 
much  of  the  artist's  development  toward  abstraction  during  the  period  1909-12.. 
This  evolution  is  discussed  in  detail  on  pp.  60-67,  7°-74-  The  painting  appears  un- 
finished and  may  be  so,  due  to  Kupka's  frustration  at  being  unable  to  resolve  prob- 
lems of  movement,  color  and  perspective  as  they  were  beginning  to  crystallize  in 
his  mind. 


115 


32a-c     Three  studies  after  Girl  with  a  Ball 
(mounted  in  a  single  mat). 
1908-09 

a.  Pencil  on  paper,  8Vs  x  <$xk" 
(20.6  x  13.3  cm.) 
Stamped  11  "Kupka" 

b.  Pencil  on  paper,  10%  x  7%" 
(27.3  x  18.7  cm.) 

Inscribed  and  signed  r  margin  "ici  il 
n'y  a  que//la  dissection//des  sur- 
faces//la  conception//de  la//con- 
penetration  [sic]  / /atmospherique/ / 
est  a  trouver//tant  qu'il  y//aura  la 
difference//des  couleurs//du  fond 
et//de  la  chair//je  retomberai  //dans 
le  [sic]  photo//carte  postale;"  11 
"Kupka" 

c.  Colored  crayons  on  paper, 
8%  x  5V2"  (21.2  x  14  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i907" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  Gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (568.56.4-5-2) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 

For  the  complete  sequence  of  these 
works,  see  cat.  nos.  45,  61-62 


116 


V^Ky 


%  III 


I 


\ 


\ 


117 


33     The  First  Step  (Le  Premier  pas). 
1909-13 

Oil  on  canvas,  32%  x  51" 

(83.2  x  129.6  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka// 1909" 

Vachtova,  no.  97,  repr.  p.  79 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 

Art,  New  York,  Hillman  Periodicals 

Fund,  1956  (562.56) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1956 

EXHIBITIONS: 

New  York,  1957;  March- April  1958; 
October  1958-October  1959,  MOMA 
''New  York,  1961,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  3 
Washington,  D.C.,  1963 
New  York,  1964-65;  1969;  1972; 
December  1972-March  1973, 
MOMA 


The  First  Step  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  paintings  to  situate  in  Kupka's  oeuvre. 
It  is  hard  to  understand  how  and  why  the  artist  would  have  executed  this  painting 
in  1909,  the  date  given  it  by  Kupka.  There  is  no  other  work  of  the  period  which 
even  slightly  resembles  it.  Yet  there  is  no  adequate  justification  for  dating  it  later. 
Superficially,  The  First  Step  can  be  related  to  the  Disks  of  Newton  series  of  1911-12. 
But  a  careful  comparison  of  these  paintings  reveals  few  if  any  real  similarities. 

The  First  Step  is  painted  on  the  reverse  of  a  commercially  primed  canvas.  The 
primed  side  had  already  been  used  for  a  Gigolette  painting  which,  although  un- 
finished, was  nonetheless  signed  and  dated  1909-10  (fig.).  However,  the  tentative 
treatment  and  weak  stylization  argue  for  a  dating  of  1908  (see  cat.  no.  36).  Sub- 
sequently, presumably  between  1908  and  1909,  Kupka  unstretched  the  canvas  and 
restretched  it  to  use  the  other  side. 

The  thin  matte  ground  of  The  First  Step,  which  is  entirely  uncharacteristic  for 
Kupka,  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  it  is  painted  on  the  reverse  of  a  primed  canvas. 
This  unprimed  side  seems  to  have  been  worked  on  in  at  least  two  if  not  three 
phases:  the  first  c.  1909;  the  later  reworkings  c.  191 1  and  1913. 

A  careful  examination  reveals  that  the  first  version  consisted  of  two  large  central 
planets,  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  evenly  spaced  small  disks  on  a  stained  black  field, 
essentially  the  same  composition  as  exists  today.  In  this  initial  version,  the  largest 


Kupka,  Reverse  of  The  First  Step,  Col- 
lection The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York,  Hillman  Periodicals  Fund. 


white  disk  was  threaded  with  black  veins  on  a  white  ground,  depicting  a  lunar 
landscape.  The  second  disk,  behind  it  and  to  the  left,  may  have  been  somewhat 
whiter  than  it  is  now.  The  small  disks  which  revolve  around  these  two  focalized 
overlapping  circles  were  originally  white  with  slightly  gray  haloes. 

Around  191 1,  when  Kupka  was  doing  studies  for  the  Fugue,  he  reworked  the 
painting.  He  repainted  the  dominant  form  a  solid  white,  so  that  all  that  remains 
of  the  earlier  veined  surface  is  a  barely  visible  network  of  gray  lines.  At  intersect- 
ing points  of  this  web,  he  studded  the  surface  with  blobs  of  white.  The  second  large 
disk  was  repainted  gray,  its  left  edge  high-lighted  with  white,  creating  a  reverbera- 
tion against  the  black  ground.  He  also  added  a  shadow  to  further  separate  the  two. 
At  the  same  time  he  encircled  the  smaller  disks  with  loosely  intertwined  wreaths  of 
dark  green  which  virtually  destroy  the  original  even  spacing  and  add  a  sense  of 
spiraling  rotation  and  dynamic  continuity  between  them.  Probably  concurrently, 
he  drew  a  sketchy  single  blood-red  ring  in  the  bare  black  field  on  the  left.  Finally, 
perhaps  in  a  third  version  c.  191 3,  he  articulated  the  satellites  with  blue  and  red 
splinters  of  color,  encompassed  them  with  gray-blue  haloes  and  punctuated  the 
green  and  red  wreaths  of  color  with  brighter  shades  of  the  same  hues.  This  partial 
accentuation  of  the  green  orbits  makes  them  advance  and  recede  in  space.  The 
cherry-red  stippling  on  the  deeper  red  ring  is  more  evenly  distributed  than  the  green 
and  anchors  that  circle  in  a  single  more  recessive  plane  in  space. 

The  knotted  lines  of  color  of  the  red  and  green  wreaths  are  seen  in  some  late 
studies  for  the  Amorpha  Fugue  (MOMA  Study  Collection).  Both  the  use  of  green 
and  the  linking  of  motifs  in  a  continuous  movement  occur  in  "Copenetrations"  of 
1910-11,  where  an  arabesque  anticipating  the  Fugue  is  found  (see  cat.  no.  68).  The 
separate  yet  interpenetrating  colored  orbits  on  a  black  ground  set  in  a  relation  to 
two  over-lapping  white  disks  suggest  that  this  painting,  at  least  in  191 1,  was  con- 
ceived as  a  very  tentative  and  unique  study  for  the  Fugue,  particularly  since  in  1911, 
Kupka  was  beginning  to  work  on  obviously  cosmic  themes  which  added  a  dimen- 
sion to  his  Fugue  development.  However  the  precise  arrangement  of  splintered  red 
and  blue  shards  does  not  appear  in  Kupka's  work  until  1913.  One  can  therefore 
safely  suggest  that  they  were  added  after  the  Fugue  at  the  time  of  The  Cathedral 
(cat.  no.  99). 

This  discussion  of  formal  characteristics  does  not  tell  us  why  Kupka  chose  to  do 
such  a  subject  as  early  as  1909.  His  long  interest  in  astronomy  is  of  course  relevant, 
especially  since  he  kept  abreast  of  the  most  recent  astronomical  discoveries  through 
scientific  journals  and  the  more  general  periodicals  which  were  full  of  articles 
about  them.  Eclipses  of  the  sun  were  seen  in  Europe  in  1900  and  1905.  They  were 
photographed  and  widely  reproduced  as  were  many  other  astronomical  discoveries 
concerning  the  sun,  the  moon  and  individual  planets.  Astronomical  photographs 
were  shown  at  the  Observatory,  the  Palais  de  la  Decouverte,  and  the  museum  of 
the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers,  places  Kupka  visited  frequently.  More  spe- 
cifically, a  large-scale  model  of  the  moon  was  exhibited  at  Uccle  in  Belgium  in  1909, 
a  year  Kupka  visited  Onesime  Reclus  in  that  same  town.  One  can  only  conjecture 
that  this  monumental  relief  model  of  the  moon  (now  at  the  Palais  de  la  Decouverte, 
Paris)  catalyzed  Kupka's  desire  to  formulate  the  image  in  The  First  Step. 

Furthermore,  in  1908-09,  he  was  working  on  the  orbital  relationships  of  the  girl 
with  the  ball  theme.  Sketches  (cat.  nos.  32a-c)  show  the  girl  as  a  focal  image,  or  a 
double  shifting  center  with  the  ball  beginning  to  sweep  in  a  fuller  circle  around 
her.  On  one  of  these  drawings,  Kupka  wrote,  expressing  his  frustration:  "Here  I 
am  only  dissecting  surfaces.  The  atmospheric  co-penetration  is  still  to  be  found. 
As  long  as  there  is  a  distinction  between  ground  and  flesh  color,  I  will  fall  back 
into  the  postcard  photograph."  (cat.  no.  32b)  It  seems  plausible  to  conjecture  that 
in  order  to  escape  the  constraints  of  figurative  representation,  and  inspired  by  a 
vivid  exposure  to  another  rotational  system  at  Uccle,  Kupka  moved  to  a  new  con- 
text of  experience— from  the  microcosmic  to  the  macrocosmic— to  capture  the 
sense  of  rotation  which  was  his  ultimate  goal. 


119 


34     Prometheus  Blue  and  Red. 
1908-09 


Watercolor  on  paper,  12%  x  11V2" 
(32.1  x  29.3  cm.) 

Signed  II  "Kupka" 
Vachtova,  no.  67,  repr.  p.  299 
Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(K11134) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 


35     Portrait  of  Eugenie  Kupka,  from 
the  Back  (Portrait  d' Eugenie 
Kupka,  de  dos).  c.  1908-09 

Oil  on  paperboard,  15%  x  zoVs" 
(39  x51cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//o5" 
Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Andree  Martinel-Kupka 
Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 
to  present  owner,  April  1966 

EXHIBITION: 

*Paris,  1966,  Karl  Flinker,  no.  23, 
repr. 


vv^^j     ^^B 

Wk. 

^r      \  ~><- 

"    w& 

■•-'■: 

J 

fjsJSk 

-- 

W: 

'^f 

' 

BET  ^ 

1 

aSHBS** '  '    u^^A  1 

^^^sJEj^f*' 

tuK  s  ' 

-.,""■ 

- 

The  subject  of  a  woman  from  the  back  was  one  which  intrigued  Kupka  over  a 
period  of  many  years  (see  cat.  nos.  1,  12,  21  and  44  for  example).  This  portrait  of 
Eugenie,  although  dated  1905,  appears  on  stylistic  grounds  to  have  been  painted 
later.  The  bold  swatches  of  primary  and  secondary  colors  and  the  almost  planar 
modeling  forecast  Family  Portrait  of  1910.  This  style  is  not  found  in  any  of  Kupka's 
work  before  c.  1908-09. 


36     "Gigolettes"  and  Marlou 

(Gigolettes  et  Marlou).  1908-09 

Oil  on  paperboard  2.9V2  x  28%" 
(75  x72  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka;"  signed  and  dated 
middle  1  "Kupka/7  06" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Andree  Martinel-Kupka 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1966,  Karl  Flinker,  no.  29 

(dated  1906),  repr. 
''Cologne,  1967,  no.  85,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  85,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  1 ;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 

5,  repr.;  Prague,  1968,  no.  33,  repr. 


1  Although  Fedit  moves  the  beginning  of 
the  period  back  to  1906,  all  of  the 
works  known  to  the  present  author 
can  be  situated  between  1908-10  and, 
except  for  this  particular  work,  are 
dated  accordingly.  Since  this  work  is 
signed  twice,  one  can  question  the 
accuracy  of  the  second  signature  and 
date. 

2  MNAM,  Paris;  see  Fedit,  cat.  no.  29, 
p.  45. 


Like  cat.  no.  35,  this  oil  sketch  seems  to  have  been  incorrectly  dated  by  Kupka.  All 
of  the  Gigolette  series  were  done  in  the  period  1908-10.1  Although  the  dates  may  be 
confused  even  within  that  period,  one  can  distinguish  between  the  earlier  more  ten- 
tative interpretations  of  the  theme  and  others  such  as  this  one  which  show  supreme 
control  of  color,  brushstroke,  stylized  forms  and  composition.  What  must  be  con- 
sidered a  first  version  of  the  same  composition  was  painted  on  the  reverse  of  The 
First  Step  of  1909-13  (see  fig.,  p.  119).  Sketchy,  unfinished,  more  literal  in  its  de- 
piction, Kupka  nonetheless  dated  it  1909-10  which  once  again  seems  impossible  in 
view  of  the  sure  stylistic  development  of  the  theme  through  1909  (see  cat.  no.  38 
and  other  unexhibited  works  from  the  series  in  the  MNAM,  Paris).  The  male  figure 
"Marlou"  is  found  again  in  a  painting  he  Mec  (The  Pimp),  dated  1910  (once  more 
probably  incorrectly  dated).2 

"Gigolettes"  and  Marlon  shows  a  consummate  stylistic  treatment  of  the  Gigo- 
lette theme  equal  to  that  found  in  Galliens  Girl  of  1909. 


37     Rolled-up  Hair  (Cheveux  routes). 
1909 

Pastel  on  heavy  beige  paper  or  paper- 
board,  18V2  x  12. V  (47  x  31cm.) 
Signed  dated  lr  "Kupka//i909" 
Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


Obviously  inspired  by  the  art  of  Crete  and  Mycenae  which  Kupka  had  studied  in 
preparing  the  illustrations  for  Les  Erinnyes  (see  fig.  5,  p.  308),  in  this  highly  stylized 
drawing  he  also  attempted  to  capture  the  powdery  texture  and  muted  colors  of 
fresco  painting. 


ii3 


38     Gal  lien's  Girl;  G  allien  s  Taste; 
The  Cabaret  Singer  (La  Mome  a 
Gallien;  Au  gout  de  Gallien;  ha 
Chanteuse  de  Cabaret).  1909 

Oil  on  canvas,  42V2  x  39  Vs" 
(108  x  100  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 
Vachtova,  no.  73,  color  pi.  II 
Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O3836) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  24 
Amsterdam,  1957,  no.  58,  repr. 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  3,  pi.  II 
Hluboke— Brno,  1966,  no.  226,  repr. 
London,  1967,  no.  74,  repr. 
Brussels— Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  74, 
repr. 

"Prague,  1968,  no.  39,  repr. 
"Belgrade,  1969,  no.  7,  repr. 
Munich,  1970,  no.  39;  Paris,  1970, 
no.  26,  repr. 
Stockholm— Goteborg,  1973,  no.  87 


Known  today  as  Gallien s  Girl,  the  original  title  of  this  painting  was  probably  The 
Cabaret  Singer.  Kupka  changed  the  title  after  meeting  Gallien  c.  1920.  In  1946,  he 
exhibited  it  as  Gallien  s  Taste  (Gallienovo  gusto)  and  thereafter  under  this  title  or 
either  of  the  other  two  interchangeably.  As  in  the  other  works  in  the  Gigolette 
series,  this  painting  shows  the  influence  of  archaic  Mediterranean  art  as  well  as  that 
of  Kees  van  Dongen,  an  artist  widely  exhibited  in  Paris  at  that  time  and  whom 
Kupka  admired  for  a  short  period.  Although  the  painting  appears  somewhat  un- 
finished, the  large  format,  extreme  stylization,  brilliant  yet  economical  palette  and 
the  controlled  and  contrasted  composition  imply  that  it  was  one  of  the  last  paint- 
ings of  this  series. 


124 


1*5 


39     Piano  Keys— Lake  (Les  Touches 
du  piano).  1909 

Oil  on  canvas,  31V6  x  z8%" 
(79  x  72  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  74,  color  pi.  VII 
Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O3790) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

'■Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  20 
''Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  4 
Edinburgh— Leeds,  1959,  no.  52, 
pi.  XVIII 
*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

5,  repr. 
Hluboke— Brno,  1966,  no.  227,  color 
frontispiece 
London,  1967,  no.  75 
Brussels— Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  75 
^Prague,  1968,  no.  37,  repr.  black  and 

white  and  color 
Toronto,  1969,  no.  292,  repr. 
Geneva,  1970,  no.  67;  Zurich,  1970, 
no.  67 

Stockholm— Goteborg,  1973,  no.  86, 
repr. 


The  substructural  image  of  a  lake,  boat  and  a  distant  shore  was  obviously  painted 
earlier  than  the  short  vertical  bands  of  color  of  the  surface  plane.  In  the  original 
image,  the  bright  enameled  colors,  the  rich  impastoed  brushstrokes  and  the  general 
organization  along  a  central  vertical  axis  blossoming  at  the  top  in  a  bouquet  of 
floral  motifs  is  comparable  to  the  composition  of  Gallien's  Girl.  The  piano  theme, 
applied  over  this  descriptive  image  like  an  acoustical  grid,  may  also  relate  to  jazz 
or  the  cabaret. 

Obviously  Kupka  was  trying  to  destroy  perspective  and  unify  the  composition 
through  the  use  of  a  surface  grid  of  neutral  color  slabs  unrelated  in  all  aspects  to  the 
original  subject  matter.  Since  to  Kupka's  mind,  music  was  an  arrangement  of  non- 
descriptive  units,  he  evidently  felt  that  this  reference  to  notes  and  chords,  which 
create  harmony  when  superimposed,  would  telescope  his  image  into  a  single  plane. 
Thus  he  would  arrive  at  an  abstract  visual  pattern,  parallel  to  musical  composition. 
The  textures,  structures  and  visual  impact  of  the  two  pictorial  ideas  are  so  different 
that  a  true  unity  is  not  achieved.  Nonetheless  a  basic  component  of  Kupka's  future 
development  is  present  in  this  dissonant  composition. 


126 


127 


40     Study  for  Planes  by  Colors,  Large 
Nude  (Etude  pour  Plans  par 
couleurs,  Grand  Nu).  1906-07 

Pastel  on  paper,  19%  x  2.3 lA" 
(50  x  59  cm.) 

Stamped  Ir  "Kupka" 

Collection  Joseph  H.  Hazen 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Andree  Martinel-Kupka 
Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 
to  present  owner 


128 


4i      Study  for  Planes  by  Colors,  Large 
Nude  (Etude  pour  Plans  par 
couleurs,  Grand  Nu).  1909 

Pastel  on  paper,  18  7s  x  z35/s" 
(48  x  60  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  35,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2759-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


129 


42.     Planes  by  Colors,  Large  Nude 
(Plans  par  couleurs,  Grand  Nu). 
1909-10 

Oil  on  canvas,  59%  x  71V6" 
(150.1  x  180.8  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i909" 

Vachtova,  no.  87,  repr.  p.  73 

Collection  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York, 
Gift  of  Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller,  1968 
(i860) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Richard  L.  Feigen,  Inc.,  New  York, 

1958 

Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller,  April  1961 

to  present  owner,  gift 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1 91 1,  Salon  d'Automne, 

no.  811 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  16 

(dated  1910),  repr.  p.  21 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  9  (dated 

1910) 
Paris,  1954,  Salon  des  hidependants, 
no.  1630 

Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  45 
*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  5 
New  York,  1969,  April-May; 
September-October,  SRGM 
New  York,  1970,  SRGM,  p.  254, 
repr.  color 

New  York,  1971,  SRGM,  p.  254, 
repr.  color 

New  York,  1972-73,  SRGM 
New  York,  1973,  SRGM 


1  See  the  forthcoming  catalogue  of  The 
Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum 
collection,  Paintings  1880-1945,  by 
Angelica  Zander  Rudenstine,  where 
all  the  known  studies  will  be 
reproduced. 

z  Siblik,  1929;  Turpin,  1931,  forexample. 

3  Manuscript  I,  p.  49. 

4  Manuscript  II,  p.  44. 


Kupka  worked  on  the  theme  of  the  Large  Nude  over  a  period  of  many  years:  at 
least  from  1904  to  1909-10.  Over  twenty  studies  in  pencil,  charcoal  and  pastel  are 
known  today.1  In  comparison  to  the  final  interpretation  seen  here,  the  earliest  ver- 
sions are  extremely  academic  (see  cat.  no.  40  and  fig.,  p.  132).  Through  the  years, 
the  subject  evolved  from  a  reclining  nude  to  a  formal  arrangement  of  color  planes. 

Writers  of  the  twenties  and  thirties2  spoke  of  this  painting  in  terms  of  "plans- 
souchettes"  (blunt  or  stub-like  planes)  and  a  "sorte  de  pointillisme  grossi"  (a  mag- 
nified pointillism).  Since  these  phrases  are  found  consistently  in  Kupka's  autobio- 
graphical notes,  this  was  a  terminology  which  he  either  created  or  adopted  to 
describe  his  activity. 

In  his  manuscript  of  1910-n,  Kupka  wrote:  "We  who  have  the  conquests  of  the 
Impressionists  behind  us,  we  enlarge  their  pointillism  into  planes  by  colors;  we 
know  very  well  that  light  is  not  in  white  and  black  but  in  color,  in  the  more  or  less 
scientific  theory  of  complementarity. "-'  This  text  was  written  shortly  after  the  final 
version  of  the  painting  had  been  completed.  It  is  the  first  time  that  the  term  "planes 
by  colors"  appears  in  Kupka's  writings. 

In  the  artist's  1912-13  manuscript,  he  took  up  the  subject  of  the  "plane"  in 
greater  detail.  One  passage  in  particular  provides  an  insight  into  what  Kupka  was 
striving  to  achieve  in  the  Large  Nude:  "The  principle  of  construction,  the  scaffold- 
ing of  a  work,  is  in  the  large  planes  of  color."4 


130 


i3i 


Obviously  Kupka  was  trying  to  break  away  from  the  traditional  practices  of  ren- 
dering illusionistic  volume  through  shading  and  perspective.  To  Kupka,  modeling 
and  three-dimensional  form  belong  to  the  sculptor's  art.  The  painter,  whose  sup- 
port is  two-dimensional,  determines  his  forms  by  color  alone. 

Planes  by  Colors:  Large  Nude,  exhibited  for  the  first  time  in  1911,  attracted  a 
wide  critical  response  which  was,  needless  to  say,  not  always  positive.  The  satirical 
magazine  Fantasio  devoted  a  long  paragraph  to  the  painting,  in  which  a  doctor  was 
described  standing  before  the  canvas,  crying  out,  "We  must  alert  the  Service  of 
Hygiene.  This  unhappy  woman  is  suffering  from  pityriasis  versicolore.  .  .  .  These 
skin  infections  may  be  contagious."5  Andre  Salmon,  in  Paris-Journal,  described  the 
painting  as  a  decomposition  inspired  by  Matisse.6  Maurice  Dekobra,  in  La  Revue 
des  beaux-arts,  spoke  of  "the  woman  in  a  process  of  decomposition  .  . .  whose  body 
is  adorned  with  fluorescent  greens,  yellows,  and  reds.  ...  It  is  the  magic  lantern  of 
old  men  about  to  succumb  to  second  childhood."7  Only  Gustave  Kahn,  in  Mercure 
de  France,  expressed  a  more  positive  response:  "On  the  borders  of  Impressionism, 
among  those  seeking  a  strict  form  of  modeling  through  color,  one  finds  Mr.  Kupka 
whose  nude  astonishes  by  its  polychromatics.  .  .  ."8 


5  Signed  Roland  Catenoy,  November  1, 
1911,  p.  231. 

6  September  30,  I9ri,  p.  5. 

7  October  15,  1911,  pp.  4-5. 

8  October  16,  I9n,p.  872. 


Kupka,  Large  Nude,  signed  and  dated 
1904,  oil,  present  whereabouts  unknown. 


132 


43     Study  for  Family  Portrait  (Etude 
pour  Portrait  de  famille).  1909 

Pastel  on  paper,  i8V2  x  i^Vz" 
(47  x49.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


133 


44     Family  Portrait  (Portraits;  Portrait 
defamille).  1909-10 

Oil  on  canvas,  40V2  x  44W 

(103  x  112  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//i9io" 

Vachtova,  no.  82,  color  pi.  Ill 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O3821) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  191 1,  Salon  d'Automne,  no. 

812  (as  Portraits) 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  17 

(dated  1910) 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  29,  pi.  II 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  7 
Edinburgh— Leeds,  1959,  no.  51 
"Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

7,  repr. 

Hluboke— Brno,  1966,  no.  228,  repr. 

"Cologne,  1967,  no.  68,  repr.; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  68,  repr.;  Vienna, 
1967,  no.  12;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 
14,  repr.;  Prague,  1968,  no.  41,  repr. 

Stockholm— Goteborg,  1973,  no.  89 


Kupka's  biographer  Siblik  (1929)  and  other  writers  such  as  Turpin  (1931)  state 
that  Family  Portrait  was  executed  before  Planes  by  Colors:  Large  Nude.  This  seems 
implausible  for  a  number  of  reasons.  A  small  sketchbook  of  1909-10  (Private  Col- 
lection, Paris)  contains  drawings  related  to  the  final  and  most  stylistically  advanced 
formulation  of  the  Large  Nude  and  a  single  drawing  for  Family  Portrait  which  ap- 
pears to  be  one  of  its  first  tentative  sketches.  Secondly,  a  preliminary  pastel  for  Fam- 
ily Portrait  (cat.  no.  43)  shows  the  unusual  color  combinations— predominantly 
orange,  purple,  green— which  were  developed  only  in  the  last  versions  of  the  Large 
Nude.  Finally,  Kupka  himself  dated  Large  Nude  1909  and  Family  Portrait  1910. 
Although  the  dates  were  added  in  pencil  probably  many  years  after  the  paintings' 
completion  and  therefore  cannot  be  considered  completely  reliable,  presumably  the 
artist  remembered  the  order  in  which  the  paintings  were  done. 

Family  Portrait  is  a  more  complex  painting  stylistically,  showing  two  different, 
almost  opposed,  manners  of  dealing  with  color,  form  and  light.  In  Kupka's  1912-13 
manuscript  he  wrote:  "The  painter  can  animate  the  surface  according  to  the  nature 
of  his  vision.  From  the  most  imposing  mass  of  cyclopean  planes,  he  can  pass  to  the 
most  subtle  flickering  of  smaller  planes."1 

When  this  painting  was  first  exhibited  in  1911,  Gustave  Kahn  spoke  of  the  beauty 
and  accomplishment  of  this  "portrait  of  young  girls,  sparkling  and  infused  with 
light."2  The  "young  girls"  are  of  course  Madame  Kupka  and  her  daughter  Andree. 

For  a  more  extensive  stylistic  discussion  of  this  painting,  see  pp.  69-70. 


1  Manuscript  II,  p.  45. 

2  Mercure  de  France,  October  16,  1911, 
p.  872. 


134 


135 


45     Study  after  Girl  with  a  Ball.  1909 

Colored  crayons  on  paper,  SVa  x  4" 
(20.6  x  10.2  cm.) 

Stamped  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
A  rt,  New  York,  Gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (568.56.6) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 

For  the  complete  sequence  of  these 
works,  see  cat.  nos.  32,  61-62. 


46     Woman  Picking  Floivers  I  (Femme 
cueillant  des  fleurs  I).  1909-10 

Pastel  on  paper,  17%  x  18  M" 
(45  x47  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  42,  repr. 
Vachtova,  addenda  cat.  no.  40 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2776-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


Kupka,  Study  related  to  Woman  Picking 
Flowers  I,  c.  1908. 


136 


137 


47     Woman  Picking  Flowers  II 
(Femme  ctieillant  des  flews  II). 
1909-10 

Pastel  on  paper,  18%  x  19V2" 
(48  x49.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  43,repr. 
Vachtova,  addenda  cat.  no.  43 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2777-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


Visitors  to  Kupka's  studio  in  the  fifties  remember  seeing  at  least  fifteen  pastel 
studies  on  this  theme.  Photographs  of  numerous  drawings  have  also  been  found 
(figs.,  pp.  136, 141).  The  whereabouts  of  most  of  these  are  unknown  today. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  source  of  this  series  was  a  multiple-exposure  pho- 
tograph of  Madame  Kupka  in  the  garden  (see  p.  6z).  Unfortunately  no  photographs 
have  been  found.  The  model,  as  she  is  most  clearly  seen  in  the  earlier  versions,  ap- 
pears closer  to  the  model  in  Portrait  of  a  Lady  (cat.  no.  Z7)  than  to  Madame  Kupka, 


138 


48     Woman  Picking  Flowers  (Femme 
cueillant  des  fleurs).  1909-10 

Pastel  on  gray  paper,  21  lA  x  2.o3/a" 
(54  x  51.8  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


,'¥■> 


.,***£-' 4 


but  this  is  essentially  unimportant  since  Kupka  often  combined  models  and  visual 
sources  into  composite  images.  The  two  kinds  of  garden  chairs  in  this  series  of 
pastels  are  found  in  photographs  of  Kupka's  garden,  as  well  as  in  other  subjects 
painted  after  the  artist's  1906  move  to  Puteaux. 

For  an  extensive  discussion  of  this  series,  see  pp.  60-61. 


139 


49      Woman  Picking  Flowers  III 

(Femme  cueillant  des  fleurs  HI). 
1909-10 

Pastel  on  cream  paper,  17V&  x  20 %" 
(43.5  x53  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  40,  repr. 
Vachtova,  addenda  cat.  no.  40 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2775-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


140 


50     Woman  Picking  Flowers  IV 
(Femme  cueillant  des  fleurs  IV). 
1909-10 

Pastel  on  gray  paper,  16V2  x  i^Ys" 
(42.x  39  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  41,  repr. 
Vachtova,  addenda  cat.  no.  41 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  Z757-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


Kupka,  Study  related  to  Woman  Picking, 
Flowers  IV,  c.  1909. 


141 


5 1     Woman  Picking  Flowers  V 
(Femme  ateillant  des  flenrs  V). 
1909-10 

Pastel  on  paper,  18%  x  20V2" 
(48  x  52  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  44,  repr. 
Vachtova,  addenda  cat.  no.  44 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2778-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


142 


52.     Study  for  The  Oval  Mirror  (Etude 
pour  Le  Miroir  ovale).  1909-10 

Colored  pencils  on  beige  paper, 
4V6  x  4%"  (10.5  x  12  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  37,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 

Paris  (AM  2754-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


143 


53      The  Oval  Mirror  (he  Miroir 
ovale).  19 10 

Oil  on  canvas,  42%  x  347s" 
(108.3  x  88.6  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//i9io" 

Vachtova,  no.  90,  repr.  p.  82  (dated 
1911) 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  Hillman  Periodicals 
Fund,  1956  (565.56) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  Salon  des  hidependants,  191 2, 

no.  1833, 1834,  or  1835 

''Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  32  (dated 

1911) 
New  York,  1957 
::  New  York,  1961,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  4 
s'New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  5 
New  York,  1965;  1966;  1968, 
MOMA 


In  contrast  to  the  distinctly  defined  contours  and  sharply  contrasted  color  planes 
of  Large  Nude  and  Family  Portrait,  The  Oval  Mirror  is  a  somewhat  blurred  and 
structurally  undefined  image.  Nonetheless  Kupka  has  retained  some  of  the  formal 
characteristics  of  the  other  two  works:  the  plans-souchettes  of  color  (see  discussion 
p.  130),  here  impastoed  and  much  enlarged;  and  the  reversal  of  the  usual  chromatic 
roles  (see  pp.  69-70),  here  a  purple  which  advances  and  a  green  which  recedes  to 
yellow.  The  small  sketch  (cat.  no.  52)  shows  these  formal  concerns  more  clearly. 

The  subject  of  a  woman  looking  in  a  mirror,  one  which  Kupka  had  used  before 
(see  cat.  no.  12)  lent  itself  to  a  more  ambiguous  image.  On  the  basis  of  his  experi- 
ments in  the  Woman  Ticking  Flowers  series  (cat.  nos.  46-51),  Kupka  now  tried  to 
dissolve  the  focal  image,  not  through  sequential  motion  but  through  reflection  of 
a  single  body  in  space.  This  is  consistent  with  the  artist's  ideas  c.  1909-10  when  he 
began  exploring  the  distinction  between  movement  in  three-dimensional  as  op- 
posed to  four-dimensional  space.  An  inscribed  colored  crayon  drawing  defines  and 
illustrates  the  two  notions  (fig.,  p.  65;  see  discussion  pp.  65-66). 

Although  Kupka  may  have  thought  that  the  rippling  contours  effected  by  a  mir- 
ror image  would  generate  a  kinetic  dimension,  the  painting  The  Oval  Mirror  (as 
well  as  the  preliminary  sketch)  is  essentially  static.  Yet  in  the  two-sided  drawing  in- 
spired by  the  painting  (cat.  no.  54)  almost  imperceptibly  the  figure  begins  to  turn, 
progressing  from  a  full  rear  view  to  that  of  a  silhouette  turning  toward  the  right. 
This  rotational  movement,  derived  from  the  elliptical  curves  of  the  painting,  will 
lead  Kupka  to  the  subtle,  more  tangible  shifting  in  space  seen  in  The  Musician 
Follot  and  Planes  by  Colors  which  immediately  follow. 


144 


145 


54     Untitled  (Study  after  The  Oval 
Mirror  leading  into  Planes  by 
Colors).  1910 

Charcoal  on  paper,  izlA  x  9" 
(3r  x  23  cm.) 

Stamped  11  "Kupka;"  inscribed  11  in 
unknown  hand  "199" 

on  reverse,  pastel 
Stamped  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


**** 


i<  ■»■ 


r 


-(■i^p- 


■-. 


Frank  KUPKA 
as) 


I46 


5  5     Portrait  of  The  Musician  Follot 
(Portrait  du  musicien  Follot). 
1910-11 

Oil  on  canvas,  28  V^  x  z6V&" 
(72.4  x  66.3  cm.) 

Inscribed,  signed  and  dated  lr  "A 

mon  ami//G.  Follot//Kupka// 

1910" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 

Art,  New  York,  Hillman  Periodicals 

Fund,  1956  (564.56) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1912,  Salon  des  Independants, 

no.  1833, 1834  or  1835 

''Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  18 

(asPortrait,  dated  1910-11) 
'Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  31  (dated 

1911) 
New  York,  1957,  MOMA 
New  York,  MOMA,  May  4-July  5, 
i960,  Portraits  from  the  Museum 
Collection.  Traveled  throughout  the 
United  States,  February  15, 1961- 
February  28, 1964. 
New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks 
(not  on  checklist) 
New  York,  1968,  MOMA 


4#.  »*»    vs 


1  Quoted  by  Fedit,  in  conversation  with 
the  author,  1974. 


Apparently  Kupka  said  in  reference  to  this  picture  that  he  was  trying  to  abolish  the 
notion  of  time.1  In  the  context  of  his  work  and  thinking  of  this  period,  one  can 
understand  his  statement  to  mean  an  attempt  to  replace  sequential  motion  by  an 
almost  imperceptible  shifting  in  space  which  would  abolish  the  notion  of  consecu- 
tive moments  in  time.  This  would  ultimately  lead  to  his  concept  of  simultaneity 
(see  discussion  pp.  64-65). 

In  composition  and  palette,  Follot  is  extremely  close  to  Planes  by  Colors  (cat.  no. 
59).  However,  partly  because  the  subject  is  less  appropriate  to  the  concept,  and 
partly  because  this  painting  was  done  somewhat  earlier,  the  impression  of  shifting 
in  space  remains  slight. 


147 


56     Study  for  Planes  by  Colors  (Etude 
pour  Plans  par  conleurs).  1909-10 

Pastel  on  paper,  2.1V2  x  i8Vs" 
(54.6  x  46  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i909" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


W- 


148 


57     Study  for  Planes  by  Colors  (Etude 
pour  Plans  par  couleurs).  1909-10 

Pastel  on  paper,  zz  x  17V6" 
(56x45.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  Z779-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


58      Study  for  Planes  by  Colors  (Etude 
pour  Plans  par  couleurs).  1909-10 

Pencil  on  paper,  SlA  x  ^A" 
(21  x  iz.5  cm.) 

Stamped  Ic  "Kupka;"  signed  11 
"Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


'  W*-         ^vj*>&C> 


149 


59     Planes  by  Colors  (Plans  par 
conleiirs).  1910-11 

Oil  on  canvas,  43%  x  39%" 
(no  x  100  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka// 
1910-n" 

Fedit,  no.  48,  repr.  color 
Vachtova,  no.  88,  repr.  p.  in 

Collection  Musee  National  d'Art 
Moderne,  Paris  (AM  3549-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  1957 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1912,  Salon  des  bidependants, 
no.  1833, 1834  or  1835 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  9 
''Cologne,  1967,  no.  n,  repr.  color; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  n,  repr.;  Vienna, 
1967,  no.  13,  repr.  color;  Amster- 
dam, 1968,  no.  16,  repr.  black  and 
white,  color;  Prague,  1968,  no.  43, 
repr.  black  and  white,  color 
Milan,  1973,  no.  149,  repr. 


Drawings  found  among  Kupka's  personal  notes  indicate  that  the  three  paintings 
entitled  Plans  par  couleurs  exhibited  at  the  19 11  Salon  des  bidependants  were  our 
catalogue  numbers  53,  55  and  the  present  painting.  Roger  Allard,  in  reviewing  the 
19 1 2  Salon  said,  "the  post-cubist  fantasies  by  Kupka  and  Juan  Gris  are  rather  in- 
significant."1 It  is  worth  noting  that  Juan  Gris'  "post-cubist  fantasy"  was  his  Hom- 
mage  a  Picasso  {Portrait  of  Picasso,  1911-iz,  Art  Institute  of  Chicago). 

For  a  detailed  discussion  of  this  painting,  see  pp.  62-64,  72. 


1  La  Revue  de  France,  March  1912,  p.  72. 


150 


151 


60     Chromatic  Scale  (Gamine  chro- 
matique).  1910-11 

Pastel  and  colored  crayons  on  paper, 
9%  x  SVs"  (25  x  20.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Lent  by  Spencer  A.  Samuels  and 
Company,  Ltd. 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Estate  of  the  artist 
Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 
to  present  owner 


Both  formally  and  chromatically,  this  pastel  is  related  to  the  Woman  Picking  Flow- 
ers series  and  the  pastel  studies  for  Planes  by  Colors.  It  is  an  important  transitional 
work  exemplifying  Kupka's  shift  of  focus  from  a  subject  subdivided  rhythmically 
by  a  vertical  grid  to  an  abstract  pattern  of  pure  rhythmic  planes. 


152 


6ia-c     Three  studies  after  Girl  with  a 

Ball  and  for  The  Fugue  (mounted 
in  a  single  mat).  1908-09 

a.  Colored  crayons  on  paper, 
10%  x  SVi"  (27  x  21  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//i9o8" 

b.  Colored  crayons  on  paper, 
8%  x  7V2"  (20.8  x  19  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//i9o8" 

c.  Colored  crayons  on  paper, 
65/sx  6"  (16.8x15  cm.) 
Signed  lc  "Kupka";  inscribed  Ir 
"origine  de  la  technique/Vemployee 
a  la  charpente//de  la  Fugue." 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  Gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (568.56.8-3-1) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 


1 


V 


153 


6z     Study  after  Girl  with  a  Ball  and 
for  The  Fugue.  1909 

Colored  crayons  on  paper,  8VS  x  5V4" 
(21.2  x  13.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka";  inscribed  11 
"Genese  des  disques//et  de  la 
<Fugue'  " 

Private  Collection,  New  York  City 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1955 

For  the  complete  sequence  of  these 
works,  see  cat.  nos.  32,  45,  61. 


154 


63     Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors  (Etude  pour  Amorpha, 
Fugue  a  deux  couleurs).  1910-11 

Oil  on  canvas,  44  x  27" 
(in. 8  x  68.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Contemporary  Collection  of  The 
Cleveland  Museum  of  Art  (69.51) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman, 

1950's 

to  present  owner,  1969 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes  (installation 

photograph) 
*New  York,  1961,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  1 
::"New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  1 
Buffalo-Dayton-Cleveland,  1970 
(hors  catalogue;  shown  at  Cleveland 
only) 

For  a  detailed  discussion  of  this 
painting,  see  p.  71. 


155 


64     Study  for  Vertical  Planes  (Etude 
pour  Plans  verticaux).c.  1910-n 

Pastel  on  paper,  8  x  8%" 
(20.3  x  22.3  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  New  York,  Gift  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman, 
1974  (2124) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman, 

1950's 

to  present  owner,  gift 


m 


mm 


156 


6$     Arrangement  of  Verticals  (Ordon- 
nance  sur  verticales).  1910-11 

Pastel  on  gray  paper,  18%  x  19%" 
(48  x  50  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Fedit.no.  52,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2780-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


157 


i 


66     Arrangement  of  Verticals  in 
Yellow  (Ordonnance  sur  verti- 
cals en  jaune).  1910-11 

Oil  on  canvas,  27V2  x  27V2" 
(70  x  70  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka/71913" 

Fedit,  no.  51,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  3558-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  1957 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1958,  MNAM  (hors  catalogue) 
Grenoble,  1963,  no.  15 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  13,  repr.; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  13,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  24,  repr.  p.  32;  Amster- 
dam, 1968,  no.  21,  repr.;  Prague, 

1968,  no.  49,  repr. 


Many  of  Kupka's  abstract  paintings  derive  from  a  perceptual  experience  of  the 
real  world  which,  when  translated  into  purely  pictorial  terms,  lose  all  visible 
relationship  to  the  original  subject  matter.  It  is  quite  possible  that  Arrangement 
of  Verticals  in  Yellow  and  a  companion  painting  simply  called  Arrangement  of 
Verticals  (MNAM,  Paris)  were  inspired  by  the  interior  of  a  Gothic  cathedral.  The 
thin  vertical  planes  which  scan  the  surface  may  refer  to  the  closely  massed  columns 
of  a  church  interior  through  which  the  stained  glass  windows  flicker  like  shards 
of  purple  light.  The  companion  painting  is  predominantly  gray  with  red  and  blue 
accents  in  the  upper  part,  again  evoking  stone  columns  and  stained  glass  windows. 

However,  as  we  can  see,  the  perceptual  experience  was  a  mere  point  of  departure 
for  a  stringently  regulated  abstract  composition.  Although  there  is  a  definite  shift- 
ing in  space  between  the  planes  on  the  surface  and  others  which  appear  to  recede 
slightly  into  depth,  the  dominant  impression  is  of  an  even  all-over  pattern. 

Since  these  paintings  derive  directly  from  the  Vloman  Picking  Flowers  series  (see 
cat.  no.  51)  it  is  impossible  to  accept  Kupka's  1913  date. 


+t 


V    * 


r 


t    !i 


158 


6-j     Study  for  The  Language  of  Ver- 
ticals (Etude  pour  Le  Langage  des 
verticales).  1910-11 

Brown  ink  wash  on  gray  paper, 
16V4  x  i-jW  (41.3  x  44.2.  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


159 


68     "Copenetrations"  ("Conpenetra- 
tions").1 1910-11 

Oil  on  canvas,  29%  x  32.V2" 
(75.5x82.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection,  New  York  City 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1956 


1  Owner's  title.  The  title  appears 
nowhere  on  the  painting  or  in  any  of 
the  artist's  documentation.  The  owner 
prefers  this  spelling.  The  correct 
French  spelling  is  Compenetrations. 


The  inspiration  for  Copenetrations  was  probably  the  same  as  that  of  Arrangement 
of  Verticals  in  Yellow  (cat.  no.  66).  Here  the  treatment  is  bolder  and  flatter,  and 
the  planes  are  shorter,  more  randomly  distributed  and  more  aggressively  super- 
imposed upon  the  surface.  Furthermore  the  color  is  more  arbitrary.  A  continuous 
arabesque  links  the  bright  floral  clusters  of  color  which  weave  in  and  out  between 
the  floating  planes.  The  inner  articulation  of  these  color  forms  evokes  the  tri- 
angulated panes  of  stained  glass,  an  articulation  found  again  in  both  the  Amorphas 
of  1912  and  much  other  work  prior  to  1913-14. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  paintings  one  would  be  tempted  to  interpret  in  terms  of 
music:  as  a  melody  unfolding  in  even  measures  of  time.  The  melody  (in  a  major 
key)  here  forecasts  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Tivo  Colors  of  1912;  in  fact  the  continuous 
arabesque  motif  appears  again  in  a  pastel  study  for  that  painting  (Cassou-Fedit, 
Kupka,  Paris,  1964,  repr.  p.  23).  The  stacked  planes  of  color  may  be  read  as  stacked 
notes  or  chords  like  those  seen  in  Piano-Keys-Lake  (cat.  no.  39);  their  color  implies 
a  minor  key. 

Aside  from  this  reading  however,  in  strictly  formal  terms,  this  painting  contains 
the  primary  motifs  of  Kupka's  major  paintings  of  19 12:  Vertical  Planes,  Amorpha, 
Fugue  and  Amorpha,  Warm  Chromatics. 


160 


6<)     Study  for  Nocturne  (Etude  pour 
Nocturne).  1910-11 

Colored  pencils  on  paper,  8Vs  x  5V6" 
(20.5  x  13  cm.) 

Stamped  lr  "Kupka";  inscribed 

r  margin  "dissection  du  repoussoir" 

Fedit,  no.  46;  repr. 

Musee  Nationale  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  Z7Z1-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


161 


70     Nocturne  (Nocturne).  19 n 


Oil  on  canvas,  26  x  26"  {66  x  66  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  153,  repr.  p.  109 

Collection  Museum  des  20. 
Jahrhunderts,  Vienna 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  40 

(dated  191 1) 
*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  64  (dated 

1911) 
Paris,  1949,  Maeght,  no.  27  (dated 
19 10) 
*New  York,  1951,  Louis  Carre,  no.  1, 

repr. 
*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  10  (dated 

1910-n),  pi.  Ill 
Paris,  i960,  MNAM,  no.  357,  repr. 
*Paris,  1964,  Louis  Carre,  no.  1 
s'Vienna,  1967,  no.  1 1,  repr.  color; 

Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  22,  repr. 


1  Manuscript  II,  p.  11. 


An  oil  study  for  Nocturne,  inscribed  1906,  shows  a  blurred  nocturnal  waterscape 
in  tones  of  deep  blue.  Not  surprisingly,  it  is  reminiscent  of  Whistler's  famous 
Nocturne,  Blue  and  Gold,  exhibited  in  Paris  in  1905  in  a  large  memorial  retro- 
spective of  the  American  artist's  work.  Many  of  Whistler's  paintings  bore  the  title 
Nocturne;  many  others  were  simply  called  Arrangement,  such  as  the  Portrait  of 
the  Artist's  Mother,  otherwise  known  as  Arrangement  in  Gray  and  Black.  Kupka's 
titles,  such  as  Arrangement  of  Verticals  in  Yellow,  seem  to  echo  Whistler's. 

The  small  drawing  for  Nocturne  (cat.  no.  69)  shows  an  attempt  once  again  to 
come  to  terms  with  an  elimination  of  perspective.  The  artist  has  superimposed 
large  vertical  slabs  of  midnight  blue  in  the  frontal  plane  over  a  sketchily  suggested 
pond  or  waterfall  (see  the  Tate  Gallery's  Waterfall,  dated  1906).  The  marginal 
notes  instruct:  "dissect  the  underlying  space." 

In  the  final  version,  the  surface  is  veiled  with  a  screen  of  blue  planes.  Kupka 
wrote  in  1912-13:  "Look  what  happens  at  twilight;  when  the  blue  screen  of  falling 
night  leaves  only  the  luminous  values  of  blues,  violets,  cold  greens,  while  the 
complimentaries  yellows  and  reds  become  shadows."1  The  vertical  emphasis  of  the 
earlier  works  (cat.  nos.  64-68)  has  been  disarticulated  and  spread  in  an  all-over 
pattern.  By  reducing  the  palette  to  the  single  key  of  blue,  Kupka  eliminated  contrast 
and  surface-depth  illusions.  The  result  is  a  sheet  of  vibrating  units  of  light. 


162 


71     Red  and  Blue  Disks  (Disques 
rouges  etbleus).  1911-12 

Oil  on  canvas,  39%  x  28M" 

(100x73  cm-) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka// 

1911-12" 

Vachtova,  no.  98,  repr.  p.  83 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  Purchase,  195 1 
(141. 51) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  131, 

(dated  1911) 
Paris,  1949,  Maeght,  no.  29  (dated 
1911) 

*New  York,  1951,  Louis  Carre,  no.  3 
New  York,  1952;  1954;  1955;  1957, 
MOMA 
,f"New  York,  1961,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  5 
New  York,  1964;  1965,  MOMA 
New  York,  1965,  M.  Knoedler,  no.  26 
New  York,  1966,  Public  Education 
Association,  no.  94 
New  York,  1966;  1969;  July-Novem- 
ber 1971;  November-December  1971; 
1972,  MOMA 

For  an  extensive  discussion  of  this 
picture,  see  pp.  72-73. 


163 


72.     Study  for  Disks  of  Newton  (Etude 
pour  Disques  de  Newton). 
1911-iz 

Pastel  on  paper,  9V2  x  10V2" 
(24.2 x  26.7  cm.) 

Inscribed  lr  "A  mon  cher  ami/ / 
Lieberman  [sic]";  signed  and  dated  ur 
(upside  down)  "Kupka//II//i9i2" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander 
Liberman 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1950's 


164 


73     Disks  of  Newton,  Study  for  Fugue 
in  Two  Colors  (Disques  de  New- 
ton, Etude  pour  la  Fugue  a  deux 
couleurs).  1911-12 

Oil  on  canvas,  ic^-k  x  25 Vs" 
(49.5  x65  cm.) 

Dated,  signed  and  inscribed  lr 
"11-12  Kupka//Etude  pour  la  Fugue 
a  deux  couleurs" 

Fedit,  no.  62,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  3  63  5  -P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1959 


EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  10  or  11 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  132 
"Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Kealites 

Nouvelles,  no.  XLIV-F 
Paris,  1954,  Salon  des  Independants, 
no.  1631 

Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  40 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  19,  pi.  VII 
Houston,  1965,  no.  51 
Buffalo-Dayton-Cleveland,  1970, 
no.  22,  repr. 

San  Diego-Oakland-Seattle,  1971, 
no.  40,  repr.  color  (inaccurate) 
Milan,  1973,  no.  148,  repr. 

For  discussion,  see  p.  73. 


165 


74     Study  for  Disks  of  Newton  (Etude 
pour  Disques  de  Newton). 
1911-12 

Gouache  on  paper,  12%  x  9%" 
(32  x25  cm.) 

Signed  1  of  c  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  63,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2789-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


166 


75     Disks  of  Newton,  Study  for  Fugue 
in  Two  Colors  (Disques  de  New- 
ton, Etude  pour  la  Fugue  a  deux 
coideurs).  1911-12 

Oil  on  canvas,  39V2  x  29" 

(77-5X73-6  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Philadelphia  Museum  of  Art,  The 
Louise  and  Walter  Arensberg 
Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Walter  Arensberg,  1937 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  i924,laBoetie,  no.  10  or  n 
New  York,  1936,  no.  114,  fig.  60 
Chicago,  1949,  no.  128,  repr. 
Philadelphia,  1954,  no.  123,  repr. 
Newark,  1956,  no.  35 
New  York,  i96i,SRGM 
*New  York,  1968,  Spencer  A. 

Samuels,  no.  26,  repr. 
Buffalo-Dayton-Cleveland,  1970, 
no.  23,  repr.  (shown  at  Buffalo  only) 
San  Diego-Oakland-Seattle,  1971, 
no.  42,  repr.  color  (inaccurate) 
New  York,  October  1972-January 
1973,  MOMA,  no.  46 


Ford 


iscussion,  see  p.  74. 


167 


j6     Study.  1910-11 

Watercolor  on  paper,  4V2  x  7" 
(11. 6x  17.8  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection,  New  York  City 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


168 


77     Study  for  Cosmic  Spring  I  (Etude 
pour  Printemps  cosmique  I).  19 11 

Watercolor  on  paper,  9V6  x  yVs" 
(23.3  x  2.3.3  cm-) 
Signed  11  "Kupka" 
Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
previous  owner 
to  present  owner 


This  is  obviously  a  study  for  Cosmic  Spring  I  (fig.)-  Yet  structurally  it  forecasts 
Amorpha,  Warm  Chromatics  in  its  intertwined  arcs  on  the  left  and  the  curving 
bands  and  small  dappled  motifs  on  the  right.  It  anticipates  Amorpha,  Fugue  hi 
Two  Colors  in  somewhat  similar  formal  concerns.  The  genesis  of  these  varied 
themes  in  a  single  work  of  this  kind  gives  some  insight  into  the  complexity  of 
Kupka's  creative  process. 


Kupka,  Cosmic  Spring  I,  191 1-20,  oil 
NG,  Prague. 


169 


78     Study  for  Cosmic  Spring  and 
Amorpba,  Fugue  in  Tivo  Colors 
(Etude  pour  Frintemps  cosmique 
et  pour  Amorpba,  Fugue  a  deux 
couleurs).  1911-12 

Gouache  on  paper,  13%  x  14V2" 
(35  x  36.8  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander 

Liberman 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1950's 


v. 


$v 


1 

■ 

* 
* 

^ri 

w& 

m^mm 

79     Irregular  Forms:  Creation 

(Formes  irregulieres:  Creation). 
1911 

Oil  on  canvas,  42.V2  x  42V2" 
(108  x  108  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka";  inscribed 

11  "formes  irregulieres// creation" 

Los  Angeles  County  Museum  of  Art, 
Estate  of  David  E.  Bright 
(M.67.25.10) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Richard  L.  Feigen,  Inc.,  Chicago 

David  E.  Bright,  Los  Angeles 

to  present  owner  from  Estate  of 

David  E.  Bright,  1967 


exhibitions: 

Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  42 

*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  16 

Los  Angeles,  Ambassador  Hotel, 

February  1961,  Living  ivitb  Famous 

Paintings 

Los  Angeles,  1967,  repr.  color 

*New  York,  1968,  Spencer  A. 

Samuels,  no.  23,  repr. 
San  Diego-Oakland-Seattle,  1971, 
no.  38,  repr.  color,  p.  69 
Pittsburgh,  1974,  no.  41,  repr. 
Los  Angeles  County  Museum  of  Art, 
October  17-December  17, 1967, 
David  E.  Bright  Collection 


170 


I  In  Edouard-Joseph,  Dictionnaire  bio- 
graphique  des  artistes  contemporains, 
1910-1930,  Vol.  II,  Paris,  1931,  p.  286. 
Text  signed  by  Georges  Turpin.  This 
text  was  essentially  dictated  by  Kupka. 


Kupka's  cosmic  themes  and  those  alluding  to  primordial  genesis  such  as  seen  in 
this  painting,  are  among  the  earliest  of  what  the  artist  called  his  "imaginary"  or 
"created"  motifs.  Kupka  described  these  in  the  following  terms:  "Chaotic  forms 
circulating  like  clouds  in  spaces  of  a  kind  never  seen  before,  bizarre  and  sometimes 
monstrous  worlds,  created  from  scratch  by  the  painter's  poetic  imagination."1  Al- 
though the  basic  theme  derived  from  the  artist's  imagination  rather  than  from  the 
immediately  perceived  world,  he  often  used  visual  documents  from  the  world  of 
nature  to  support  and  define  his  vision.  However,  this  painting  appears  more 
visionary  than  scientific  in  its  vivid  and  vigorous  inchoate  forms  spiraling  around 
a  center  of  infinite  depth  and  weightless  atmosphere. 


171 


8o     Creation  (Creation).  1911-zo 


Oil  on  canvas,  45%  x  49%" 
(115  x  125  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 
Vachtova,  no.  189,  color  pi.  XVII 
Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(o  3837) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  1 
"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  19 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  33 
Paris,  1949,  Maeght,  repr.  p.  194 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  18 
"Pi'sek— Ceske  Budejovice,    'on  '1961 

12,  repr. 
Dobruska,  1962 
"Paris,  1964,  Louis  Carre,  no.  11 

(as  Creation  I,  dated  1920) 
"Prague,  1965,  no.  7 
"'Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965,  no.  1,  repr.  2 
Hluboke-Brno,  1966,  no.  230,  repr. 
color 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  69,  repr.  color; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  69,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  14,  repr.  no.  17,  color; 
Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  49,  repr. 
black  and  white,  color;  Prague, 

1968,  no.  53,  repr.  color 
Geneva,  1970,  no.  69,  repr.  color  on 
cover;  Zurich,  1970,  no.  69,  repr. 
color  on  cover 

Turin,  1971,  p.  272,  repr. 
Stockholm-Goteborg,  1973,  no.  91, 
repr.  color  (on  its  side) 


Conceived  in  1911,  this  painting  was  reworked  in  1920.  Although  the  formal 
structure  remains  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  Irregular  Forms:  Creation  (cat.  no. 
79)  the  individual  motifs  have  been  hardened,  and  the  central  spatial  thrust 
extended  to  infinity,  thus  making  the  whole  composition  more  dramatic.  The 
chiseled  silhouettes  of  the  foreground  shapes  and  their  curved  arrangement  around 
an  undulating  blue  ground  suggest  that  Kupka  may  have  been  referring  to  geo- 
logical configurations  seen  in  Brittany,  where  he  vacationed  over  the  years  and 
returned  in  1920  (fig.).  Whatever  the  inspiration,  the  highly  contrasted  forms 
and  dramatic  thrust  into  infinite  space  create  a  vertiginous  impression  of  the 
emergent  cosmos. 


1909.  ■  LE  POULDD.  -  L«  Plaga  de  Koreoo 


Postcard  sent  by  Kupka  from  Brittany  to 
Gallien,  July  5, 1927. 


172 


l_ 


173 


Si     Irregular  Forms:  Release  (Formes 
irregulieres:  afiranchissement). 
1911-20 

Oil  on  canvas,  2.eixh  x  33'4" 
(75  x  84.4  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka;"  inscribed  11 
"formes  irregulieres//affran- 
chissement" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnold  A. 
Saltzman,  Great  Neck,  New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

grandfather  of  previous  owner 

previous  owner 

to  present  owner,  October  1971 


8  2     Cosmic  Spring  11  (Print emps 

cosmique  11).  1911-20;  repainted 
1934? 

Oil  on  canvas,  45^  X491,4" 
(115  x  125  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  192,  repr.  p.  152; 
color  pi.  XVI 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(o  3820) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  3 
*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  20 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  34 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  17 

*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

11,  repr. 
Hluboke-Brno,  1966,  no.  229 
London,  1967,  no.  76 

Brussels-Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  76, 
repr. 

"Prague,  1968,  no.  55,  repr. 

Rome,  1969,  no.  1,  repr.  (on  its  side) 

Stockholm-Goteborg,  1973,  no.  92 


Although  reworked  in  1920  and  perhaps  again  c.  1934  (see  Vachtova,  p.  276), 
Cosmic  Spring  11  retains  much  of  the  basic  structural  composition  of  its  initial 
conception  which  was  close  to  that  of  its  pendant  Cosmic  Spring  1  (NG,  Prague, 
fig.,  p.  169).  The  1920  modifications  may  have  included  a  brightening  of  the  palette, 
a  tightening  of  the  forms  and  superficial  bands  of  shadow  on  either  side  (see 
Vachtova,  p.  278).  In  the  final  version,  Kupka  darkened  the  bands  of  shadow  and 
obliterated  the  cloud  and  crystalline  motifs  in  the  lower  central  portion. 

Kupka  liked  to  maintain  that  these  images  were  the  pure  fruits  of  his  imagina- 
tion. Yet  it  is  obvious  that  he  drew  on  photographs  or  models  of  the  moon  for 
their  formulation.  In  Cosmic  Spring  11,  the  deep  grooves  of  the  lunar  surface  fan 
out  from  a  large  volcanic  crater  or  cirque  in  the  upper  left  corner  (see  fig.). 


174 


Janssen,  Photograph  of  the  moon,  taken 
at  the  Meudon  Observatory,  January 


175 


8  3     Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors  and  Amorpha,  Warm 
Chromatics  (Etude  pour 
Amorpha,  Fugue  a  deux  couleurs 
et  pour  Amorpha,  Chromatique 
chaude).  1911-12 

Oil  on  canvas,  33V2  x  50%" 
(85  x  128  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  61,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4173-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  8  or  9 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  133  (dated 

1911-12) 
"Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realites 

Nouvelles  (hors  catalogue) 
Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  39  (as  Estudo) 
"'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  20 
Grenoble,  1963,  no.  22 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  18,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  18,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  19;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 

19,  repr.  twice;  Prague,  1968,  no. 

42a,  repr. 


iMbd 


It  is  difficult  to  situate  this  work  in  Kupka's  progression  from  the  first  studies  of 
rotation  (1908-09)  to  the  two  Amorpha  paintings  of  19 12.  One  may  merely  identify 
it  as  a  study  of  motion,  light  and  color,  parallel  to  the  Disks  of  Newton  series  and 
the  cosmic  themes.  Yet  it  would  be  tempting  to  define  this  image  as  an  unfolding 
of  consecutive  phases  of  motion  moving  toward  its  synthesis,  a  synthesis  which 
will  be  achieved  in  the  two  Amorphas  where  movement  is  not  overtly  demonstrated 
but  contained. 


176 


84     Study  related  to  Amorpha,  Fugue 
in  Two  Colors  and  Amorpha, 
Warm  Chromatics.  1911-12 

Pastel  on  paper,  $lA  x  SVa" 
(21  x  21  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  New  York,  Gift, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman, 
1974(2123) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman, 

1950's 

to  present  owner,  gift 


177 


85     Study  related  to  Amorpha,  Warm 
Chromatics.  1911-12 

Pastel  on  paper,  9%  x  %xk" 
(24.8  x  20.6  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 
Saidenberg  Gallery,  New  York 
to  present  owner,  October  1970 


86     Amorpha,  Warm  Chromatics 

(Amorpha,  Chromatique  chaude). 
1911-12 

Oil  on  canvas,  42V:  x  42V2" 
(108  x  108  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka;"  inscribed  and 
dated  11  "Amorpha— chromatique 
chaude//i9i2" 

Vachtova,  no.  141,  color  pi.  IV 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  19 1 2,  Salon  d'Antomne,  no.  926 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  134  (dated 
1911-12) 

Paris,  1947,  Salon  des  Realties 
Nouvelles 

Houston,  1965,  no.  50 

Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  41 

"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  23 


Amorpha,  Warm  Chromatics,  like  Amorpha,  Fugue,  is  a  composite  image  deriving 
from  diverse  sources,  images  and  impressions.  The  general  organization  is  very 
close  to  a  work  which  precedes  it  slightly  (cat.  no.  83).  One  may  also  relate  it 
chromatically  to  still  earlier  works,  the  artist's  studies  of  church  interiors  (cat.  no. 
66)  — here  enhanced  by  the  vaulted  patterns— and  his  studies  of  cosmic  space  (cat. 
no.  77)  which  foreshadow  this  configuration  in  formal  terms.  The  intellectual 
and  pictorial  processes  by  which  Kupka  arrived  at  this  purely  abstract  composition 
are  indicative  of  his  fundamental  aesthetic  which  is  based  on  an  attempt  to  depict 
the  laws  of  the  macrocosm  through  microcosmic  phenomena.  Here  he  has  identi- 
fied the  simplified  formal  patterns  of  the  vaulted  church  interior  with  the  rotational 
patterns  and  forms  of  the  cosmic  order. 

In  Amorpha,  Fugue  of  the  same  year,  Kupka  was  concerned  with  pure  color 
refracting  light.  In  Amorpha,  Warm  Chromatics,  however  he  uses  mixed  colors  in 
a  more  conventional  fashion  to  produce  the  illusion  of  light.  For  this  reason,  one 
may  suggest  that  Amorpha,  Warm  Chromatics  is  the  earlier  of  the  two  paintings. 


178 


179 


87     Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors.  1911-12 

Pastel  on  paper,  izlA  x  i2.34" 
(31. 1  x  32.4  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection,  New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


Like  the  early  studies  for  Cosmic  Spring  to  which  it  is  related  (cat.  nos.  77,  78), 
this  pastel  maintains  the  primary  emphasis  in  the  left  foreground  of  the  composi- 
tion. However  the  intersecting  zones  of  dappled  light  and  shadow  in  the  earlier 
studies  have  here  been  distilled  into  unified  ribbons  of  color  intertwined  in  a 
rotational  movement. 

During  the  period  1911-12,  Kupka  did  a  large  number  of  preparatory  studies  for 
Amorpha,  Fugue  in  which  the  interlaced  arabesque  motif  appears  on  the  right  or 
the  left  interchangeably  (see  cat.  nos.  88-91). 


180 


Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors.  19 1 2 

Gouache  on  paper,  %Y%  x  9" 
(21.4  x  22.8  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (569.56.13) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 


s+ 


m 


89     Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors.  1912 

Gouache  on  paper,  8%  x  9" 
(21.4  x  22.8  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (569.56.14) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 


■■** 


9<3     Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors.  19 1  z 

Gouache  on  paper,  %%  x  9" 
(21.4  x  22.8  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (569.56.15) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 


9i     Study  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two 
Colors.  1912 

Gouache  on  paper,  8Mtx  8%" 
(20.8  x  22.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frantisek  Kupka,  1956  (569.56.16) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  gift 


183 


Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two  Colors 
(Amorpha,  Fugue  a  deux 
couleurs).  1912 

Oil  on  canvas,  83%  x  86%" 
(211  x  220  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka;"  inscribed  II 
"fugue  a  deux  couleurs" 

Vachtova,  no.  139,  repr.  p.  281; 
color  pi.  V 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O  5942) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Picture  Gallery  of  Prague  Castle 

to  present  owner,  1953 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  191 2,  Salon  d'Automne,  no.  925 
!'Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  7  (dated 

1912) 
Lille,  1925,  no.  1 

!:"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  32 
::'Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  130  (dated 

1910-12),  pi.  VIII 
-Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  22,  pi.  VIII 

,:Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no.  8, 

repr. 
''Prague,  1968,  no.  42,  repr.  black  and 

white,  color 


1  Handwritten  manuscript  in  French. 
Long,  wordy  and  written  in  Kupka's 
sometimes  byzantine  style,  some  parts 
will  be  paraphrased  here.  Kupka  wrote 
many  autobiographical  texts  such  as 
this  one,  in  the  third  person,  in  which 
numerous  disparities  are  found.  Dates 
are  often  cited  incorrectly,  as  are 
sequences  of  paintings  and  events. 
Furthermore,  at  times  one  can  see  a 
tendency  to  romanticize  his  own 
development.  Nonetheless,  despite  the 
lack  of  reliability,  this  text  shows  how 
Kupka  saw  his  own  development  at  a 
given  time. 

2  Manuscript  I,  1910-ir. 

3  Mercare  de  France,  November  r,  1912, 
p.  181. 


In  an  autobiography  written  around  1926-27,  Kupka  described  his  transition  to 
abstraction  and  his  development  to  Amorpha,  Fugue  of  1912.1  In  1911,  during  a 
critical  period  in  his  art,  a  musician  friend  Morse-Rummel,  an  admirable  inter- 
preter of  Bach  fugues,  used  to  come  to  visit  him.  "Yes,  fugues,"  wrote  Kupka, 
"where  the  sounds  evolve  like  veritable  physical  entities,  intertwine,  come  and  go." 
Could  one  not  conceive  a  painting  of  similarly  orchestrated  visual  terms,  Kupka 
wondered,  a  painting  where  subject  matter  is  eliminated  and  only  the  painter's 
understanding  and  interpretation  of  a  theme  remains?  The  artist's  first  experiments 
showed  "masses  of  clouds  with  the  colors  of  flowers,  forms  reminiscent  of  marine 
flora,  interpenetrations  of  many  colored  disks.  These  laborious  beginnings  pro- 
duced monstrosities,  resembling  a  madman's  imaginary  visions.  So  Kupka  at- 
tempted to  discipline  them  according  to  the  implacable  logic  of  the  painted  canvas." 
Seeking  to  translate  them  in  more  "absolute"  terms,  he  could  only  resort  to  "a  kind 
of  geometrization,  eliminating  the  trompe-l'oeil  of  perspective.  Thus  the  third  di- 
mension fell  by  the  wayside,  that  third  dimension  against  which  Maurice  Denis  had 
revolted  and  Odilon  Redon  in  part  as  well.  As  for  color,  sometimes  prismatic,  some- 
times recalling  the  eighteenth  century— an  analogy  between  the  fugues  Rummel 
played  or  others  by  Seurat,  Signac,  Debussy,  Deodat  de  Severac— color  must  speak 
as  forcibly  as  form,  that  is  if  color  itself  does  not  determine  the  whole  construction 
of  the  painting." 

Further  on,  Kupka  added  that  since  his  canvases  were  rhythmic,  the  analogy  be- 
tween music  and  painting  seemed  obvious,  particularly  in  view  of  the  musical  ref- 
erence in  the  title  of  the  Fugue.  Yet,  according  to  Kupka,  he  chose  this  title  after  the 
fact,  almost  by  default,  for  lack  of  a  better  one. 

This  account  of  Kupka's  development  from  a  figurative  to  an  abstract  idiom  is 
the  fullest  we  have  from  his  hand.  At  one  point,  he  says  that  the  Fugue  came  from 
the  reds  and  blues  of  Family  Portrait  (cat.  no.  44).  On  other  occasions,  Kupka  at- 
tributed his  inspiration  to  stained  glass  windows,  and  indeed  his  preoccupation 
with  light  reflection  and  refraction  is  paramount  throughout  this  period,  inspired 
by  his  visits  to  Gothic  cathedrals.  He  even  mentions  that  the  best  solution  for  what 
he  is  seeking  would  be  achieved  by  painting  on  glass.2  Finally  the  abundant  studies 
show  still  other  formal  preoccupations:  separate  yet  interlacing  strands  of  color, 
kaleidoscopic  patterns,  cosmic  rhythms,  disjointed  and  overlapping  rhythmic  sil- 
houettes. And  of  course  the  diagrams  after  the  Girl  with  a  Ball  and  their  extension 
into  rotational  figures  and  cosmic  disks  cannot  be  overlooked  as  another  dimension 
of  his  inspiration.  However,  whether  based  on  human  rhythms,  stained  glass  pat- 
terns, cosmic  rotation  or  another  source,  in  its  final  form,  Amorpha,  Fugue  shows 
a  consummate  synthesis  of  intellectual,  instinctive  and  pictorial  ideas. 

Exhibited  in  191 2  alongside  Matisse's  Nasturtiums  and  "Dance"  (Pushkin  Mu- 
seum, Moscow),  Picabia's  Procession  and  Cubist  paintings  by  Gleizes,  Metzinger 
and  La  Fresnaye,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Amorpha,  Fugue  provoked  general  dismay 
or  hilarity  on  the  part  of  critics  and  general  public  alike.  Gustave  Kahn,  who  had 
been  sympathetic  to  Kupka's  earlier  work  was  disconcerted:  "the  elegant  chromatic 
arabesques  based  on  feminine  lines  by  Mr.  Kupka  are  games  which  are  not  within 
everyone's  reach.  Even  with  the  greatest  sympathy  for  the  Cubist  effort,  one  cannot 
yet  admire  these  works."3 

Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two  Colors  was  the  first  purely  abstract  painting  exhibited 
in  Paris. 


184 


i85 


93     Etching  related  to  Amorpha, 
Fugue  in  Two  Colors.  19 13 

Color  etching,  9V2  x  6%" 
(24  x  16  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  in  plate  11  "Kupka" 

lr  "1913" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


94     Elevation  (Elevation).  1911-12 

Colored  crayons  on  paper, 
11%  x  8V2"  (29  x  21.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
to  present  owner 


186 


95     Study.  1911-12. 

Pastel  on  brown  paper,  16  x  87s" 
(40.6  x  21.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York,  The  Joan  and  Lester 
Avnet  Fund,  1967 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Private  Collection 
Graham  Gallery,  New  York 
to  present  owner 


187 


96     Vertical  Planes  1  (Plans  verticaux 
I).  1912 

Oil  on  canvas,  59%  x  37" 

(150  x  94  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//i9i2" 

Fedit,  no.  55,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (J.  deP.  807) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Musee  des  Ecoles  Etrangeres 

Contemporaines  (Musee  du  Jeu  de 

Paume),  1936 

to  present  owner,  transferred,  1945 

EXHIBITIONS: 

'■Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  12  (dated 
191Z-13) 

''Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  40 
(dated  1912-13) 

Paris,  1937,  no.  163 

Paris,  1949,  Maeght,  repr.  p.  197  (as 

Plans  verticaux  no.  2) 

Birmingham,  1956 

London, 1956 

'■Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  24,  pi.  V 

''"Cologne,  1967,  no.  14,  repr.  color; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  14,  repr.;  Vienna, 
1967,  no.  18,  repr.  color;  Amster- 
dam, 1968,  no.  28,  repr.  black  and 
white,  color;  Prague,  1968,  no.  45, 
repr.  black  and  white,  color 

San  Diego-Oakland-Seattle,  1971, 

no.  43,  repr.  color  (inaccurate) 


Just  as  Amorpba,  Fugue  is  the  culmination  of  Kupka's  studies  of  color  and  rota- 
tional movement,  Vertical  Planes  I  and  III  are  the  consummate  expression  of  the 
theme  of  verticality  which  started  to  emerge  in  his  work  as  early  as  1906.  Whereas 
the  paintings  of  1909-1911  showed  broad  impastoed  brushstrokes  superimposed 
on  the  surface  and  enmeshed  in  a  closely  woven  fabric  of  planes,  in  Vertical  Planes  I 
the  planes  relate  to  an  entirely  different  level  of  experience.  Earlier,  Kupka  referred 
to  his  perceptual  experience;  here  he  is  attempting  to  illustrate  the  abstract  idea  of 
verticality  itself. 

In  1912-13,  Kupka  evoked  the  "rectilinear  world"  as  abstract  and  immaterial: 
"A  rectilinear  order  appears  as  the  most  energetic,  abstract,  elegant,  absolute  order 
.  .  .  The  vertical  line  is  like  a  man  standing  erect,  where  the  above  and  the  below, 
top  and  bottom  are  suspended  and,  since  they  stretch  from  one  to  the  other,  they 
are  united,  identical,  one."  He  concludes,  "Profound  and  silent,  a  vertical  plane 
helps  the  whole  concept  of  space  to  emerge."1 

In  contrast  to  the  earlier  pictures  noted  above,  these  planes  are  suspended  on  a 
thinly  painted  ground  which  connotes  an  infinite  spatial  continuum.  Free  from  con- 
tours, their  diagonally  sliced  upper  and  lower  edges  produce  an  effect  of  floating 
and  a  slight  turning  in  space.  The  delicate  colors  and  their  relationships  emphasize 
the  ephemeral  elusive  quality  of  the  composition. 

Finally,  in  the  same  text,  Kupka  says:  "Have  you  never  had  the  experience  of 
having  a  'vertical'  intrude  upon  your  vision?  It  is  the  shadow  of  an  eyelash  which 
has  fallen  before  the  eye  and  divides  the  field  of  sight."2  Kupka  returned  to  this 
analogy  time  and  again.  This  reference  to  personal  physiological  experience  reveals 
almost  a  mystical,  visionary  dimension  in  his  pictorial  investigations  — as  concen- 
trated physiological  experience  is  sublimated  into  mystical  experience  in  many 
disciplines.  This  dimension  cannot  be  overlooked,  but  should  not  be  overempha- 
sized. The  pictorial  objective  had  priority.  On  a  small  study,  Kupka  wrote:  "Syn- 
thesis/ the  pre-existing  form/  the  elementary  through  vertical  planes/  planes  of 
force:/  verticals/  vertical  symmorphy."3 

Just  as  the  Amorpba,  Fugue  was  a  "symmorphy  of  colors,"  this  painting  was  in- 
tended as  a  "symmorphy"  or  formal  orchestration  of  planes. 


1  Manuscript  IV,  p.  52. 

2  Formulation  taken  from  Manuscript  II, 
P-  35- 

3  In  the  MOMA  Study  Collection. 


Kwk 


1S9 


97     Vertical  Planes  III  (Plans  verticaux 
III).  19 1 2- 1 3 

Oil  on  canvas,  78%  x  46V2" 
(200  x  118  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka;"  inscribed  and 

dated  11  "plans//verticaux// 

1912-13" 

Vachtova,  no.  160,  color  pi.  VIII 

Collection  Narodnf  Galerie,  Prague 

(O3819) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  19 1 3,  Salon  des  Independants, 

no.  1720 

Paris,  1926,  Grand  Palais,  no.  1 378 

(as  Plans  verticaux) 

Paris,  1934,  Salon  des  Independants, 

no.  2443 

New  York,  1936,  no.  116,  fig.  62 

::"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  41 

(dated  1912-13) 
^Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  67  (dated 

1912-13J 

Tisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 

no.  9,  repr. 
'Prague,  1965,  no.  4 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  70,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  70,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  21,  repr.  p.  30;  Amster- 
dam, 1968,  no.  31,  repr.;  Prague, 

1968,  no.  46,  repr. 

Geneva,  1970,  no.  68,  repr.;  Zurich, 

1970,  no.  68,  repr. 

Venice,  1972 

Stockholm— Goteborg,  1973,  no.  93 


Vertical  Planes  II  has  either  been  lost  or  was  destroyed  by  Kupka.  Vertical  Planes 
111  has  been  identified  as  the  painting  exhibited  at  the  19 13  Independants.  However 
one  reviewer  of  the  exhibition  described  the  painting  as  "several  stripes  of  brown 
on  a  gray  ground."1  Either  the  critic's  visual  memory  failed  him,  or  the  painting 
exhibited  was  not  this  picture.  Kupka  always  maintained  that  it  was  this  one. 

In  1936,  Alfred  Barr  exhibited  this  painting  in  his  epoch-making  exhibition 
Cubism  and  Abstract  Art.  In  the  catalogue  he  wrote:  "At  the  end  of  the  year  [1912] 
Kupka  began  the  final  version  of  Vertical  Planes  the  first  studies  of  which  had  been 
done  in  1911.  Its  cold  gray  rectangles  sharpened  by  a  single  violet  plane  anticipate 
the  geometric  compositions  of  Malevich,  Arp  and  Mondrian.  Vertical  Planes  was 
exhibited  at  the  Independants  in  the  spring  of  1913.  Within  a  year's  time  Kupka 
had  painted  what  are  probably  the  first  geometrical  curvilinear  and  the  first  recti- 
linear pure-abstractions  in  modern  art.  In  comparison  with  these  conclusive  and 
carefully  considered  achievements  the  slightly  earlier  abstractions  of  Kandinsky 
and  Larionov  seem  tentative."2 


1  lntransigeant,  March  I9t3.  Cited  in 
Arnould-Gremilly,  1922,  p.  73. 

2  Barr,  Alfred  H.,  Jr.,  Cubism  and 
Abstract  Art,  New  York,  1936,  pp. 

73-74- 


190 


I9i 


98     Untitled.  19 13 

Etching,  9V2  x  614"  (14  x  16  cm. 
Signed  in  plate  lr  "Kupka" 
Collection  Karl  Flinker 
PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


99     The  Cathedral  (La  Catbedrale). 
1913 

Oil  on  canvas,  70%  x  S9l/s" 
(180  x  150  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  164,  repr.  p.  140,  color 
pi.  XI 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner,  1975 

EXHIBITIONS: 

::'New  York,  1953,  Rose  Fried,  no.  8 

Lausanne,  1955,  no.  43 

*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  31  (dated 

i9i3),pl.XII 
*Paris,  1964,  Louis  Carre,  no.  4 


192 


193 


ioo     Study  related  to  The  Cathedral. 
c.  19 1 3 

Gouache  on  paper,  26%  x  19%" 
(67.7  x  50.2  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


194 


ioi     Vertical  and  Diagonal  Planes 
(Plans  verticaux  et  diagonaux). 
1913-14 

Oil  on  canvas,  22  x  15%" 
(55.9  x40  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  McCrory  Corporation, 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Marcel  Duchamp-Jacques  Villon 

Spencer  A.  Samuels  and 

Company,  Ltd.,  New  York 
Suzanne  Feigel,  Basel 
Annely  Juda  Fine  Art,  London 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  59 

(dated  1913),  repr. 
Paris,  1949,  Salon  des  Realties  Nou- 
velles,  no.  285 


195 


io2     Study  for  Organization  of  Graphic 
Motifs  (Etude  pour  Localisations 
de  mobiles  graphiqnes).  1911-11 

Charcoal  on  paper,  13  x  izlA" 

(33  X3icm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 
the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
to  present  owner 


103     Study  for  Organization  of  Graphic 
Motifs  (Etude  pour  Localisations 
de  mobiles  graphiqnes).  1911-12 

Charcoal  on  paper,  12%  x  11%" 
(32  x  30  cm.) 

Unsigned 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
to  present  owner 


196 


104     Study  for  Organization  of  Graphic 
Motifs  (Etude  pour  Localisations 
de  mobiles  graphiques).  1912-13 

Pastel  on  paper,  13V2  x  13V8" 
(34.3x33.3  cm.) 
Signed  I  of  c  "Kupka" 
Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


197 


105  Organization  of  Graphic  Motifs  I 
(Localisations  de  mobiles  graphi- 
quesl).  19 1 2- 1 3 

Oil  on  canvas,  78%  x  j6bA" 
(200  x  194  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka;"  inscribed  11 
"localisations  de  mobiles 
graphiques" 

Vachtova,  no.  195 

Collection  Royal  S.  Marks  Gallery, 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Richard  L.  Feigen,  Chicago 
to  present  owner,  1958 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1913,  Salon  d'Automne, 
no.  1149 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  33 
*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  26,  pi.  X 
Cleveland,  i960,  no.  29,  repr. 
"New  York,  1961,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  8 
""New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

(not  on  checklist) 


The  phrase  "localisations  de  mobiles  graphiques"  is  developed  in  two  stages  in 
Kupka's  writings.  The  terms  "mobile"  and  "mobile  graphique"  occur  for  the  first 
time  in  his  1910-11  manuscript.  They  are  defined  as  the  outer  expression  of  the 
artist's  inner  motivations  (or  motives)  and  identified  as  "motifs-mobiles"  (motive- 
motifs)  as  opposed  to  "motifs-sujets"  (subject-motifs)  or  the  motif  derived  from  a 
subject  in  the  perceived  world.  For  Kupka,  there  is  no  necessity  to  look  for  subject 
matter  in  perceived  objects.  The  artist's  slightest  gesture,  his  style  or  approach  to 
painting  express  an  intelligence,  a  mentality,  a  vision  and  this  is  sufficient.1 

In  the  same  text,  Kupka  defines  the  phrase  "localisations  des  motifs-mobiles 
graphiques,"  a  concept  which  he  will  develop  more  extensively  in  the  years  these 
pictures  were  done.  In  his  1912-13  manuscript,  Kupka  devotes  three  to  four  hand- 
written pages  to  this  concept  which  we  will  attempt  to  summarize  here: 

In  our  inner  visions,  fragments  of  images  float  before  our  eyes.  In  order  to  cap- 
ture these  fragments,  we  unconsciously  trace  lines  between  them  and  by  thus  setting 
up  a  network  of  relationships,  we  arrive  at  a  coherent  whole.  These  lines  drawn  to 
organize  our  visions  are  like  "stereoscopic  bridges"  between  fragments  in  space.  .  .  . 
The  lines  of  this  network  define  points  in  space  and  directions.  They  provide  the 
scaffolding  of  the  image;  they  capture  the  rhythmic  relationships  between  impres- 


1  Manuscript  I,  pp.  30-31. 


198 


199 


106     Organization  of  Graphic  Motifs  II 
(Localisations  de  mobiles  graphi- 
quesll).  19 1 2-1 3 

Oil  on  canvas,  78%  x  78%" 
(zoo  x  200  cm.) 

Signed  II  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  196 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1 91 3,  Salon  d'Aittomne, 

no.  1150 

Houston,  1965,  no.  52 


sions.  And  this  is  the  real  subject  of  the  painter:  the  lyrical  or  tragic  schema  of  na- 
ture poeticized  or  dramatized.  Details,  forms,  figures,  objects  may  subsequently  be 
added  to  articulate  the  image  further.2 

Early  sketches  for  these  two  paintings3  show  varied  approaches  to  the  problem 
of  pure  spatial  relationships.  Probably  the  earliest  show  what  appears  to  be  a  road 
between  houses  in  which  all  but  the  vertical  lines  are  drawn  off  into  a  central  van- 
ishing point.  Other  drawings  contain  what  look  like  railroad  tracks  or  telegraph 
wires.  Still  others  show  small  clusters  of  enigmatic  figures  scattered  at  random,  and 
arbitrarily  connected  by  scores  of  lines.  These  are  the  flattest  of  all  the  drawings. 

However,  in  keeping  with  Kupka's  notion  of  "stereoscopic  bridges,"  the  final 
paintings  retain  a  thrust  into  depth,  magnified  once  again  to  vertiginous  cosmic 
proportions.  After  the  flat  synthesis  of  contained  motion  and  color  of  the  Fugue, 
Kupka  turned  to  a  more  overtly  dynamic  and  dramatic  imagery.  A  third  painting, 
Non-Descriptive  Space,  of  1913-144  was  originally  extremely  close  to  Organization 
of  Graphic  Motifs  11.  Subsequently,  Kupka  reworked  the  painting,  leaving  only  the 
motifs  around  the  outer  edge. 


2  Manuscript  II,  pp.  Z8-30  bis. 

3  In  MOMA  Study  Collection. 

4  Collection  Louis  Carre,  Paris.  See 
study,  cat.  no.  107.  The  painting  may 
be  seen  in  fig.  ir,  p.  313,  second  paint- 
ing from  the  right. 


200 


2.01 


-io7  Study  for  Non-Descriptive  Space 
(Etude  pour  Espace  non  descrip- 
tif).  19x3-14 

Colored  crayons  on  paper,  5%  x  5%" 
(14.5  x  i4Cfn.) 
Signed  11  "Kupka" 
Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


bv^*~Stl 


108     Solo  of  a  Brown  Line  (he  Solo  d'un 
trait  bran).  19 12- 13 

Oil  on  canvas,  27V2  x  4514" 
(70  x  115  cm.) 

Inscribed,  dated  and  signed  11  "Le 
solo//d'un  trait  brun//i9i2-i3 
Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  232,  color  pi.  XIX 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O3825) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 


EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1913,  Salon  des  hidependants, 

no.  1721 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  16  (dated 

1913) 
Paris,  1926,  Grand  Palais,  no.  1379 
"Paris,  r936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  64 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  151 
Paris,  1949,  Maeght,  repr.  p.  194 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  28,  pi.  IX 
:;'Pisek— CeskeBudejovice,  r96i, 

no.  10,  repr. 
Hluboke— Brno,  1966,  no.  231 
London,  1967,  no.  77 
Brussels— Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  77 
^Prague,  1968,  no.  56,  repr. 
Turin,  1971,  p.  273,  repr. 
Stockholm— Goteborg,  1973,  no.  94 


i  Manuscript  I,  p.  41. 
2.  Manuscript  IV,  p.  58. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  79. 

4  See  cat.  nos.  105  and  109. 


Kupka's  1910-11  notebook  contains  a  number  of  short  entries  concerning  "point," 
"line,"  "spot,"  "plane,"  "space,"  "light,"  themes  which  he  would  develop  in  his 
treatise  on  the  function  of  painting.  On  the  page  devoted  to  "line,"  he  drew  a  num- 
ber of  whiplash  curves,  each  representing  the  characteristic  style  of  a  period:  "eigh- 
teenth century,"  "Gothic,"  "Art  Nouveau,"  etc.,  obviously  inspired  by  his  early 
training  in  the  function  of  ornamental  motifs.  On  the  same  page  he  noted  that  the 
autonomous  line  is  the  "happiest"  line  because  it  serves  no  master  (such  as  shad- 
ing, form,  color,  plane).  It  generates  its  own  significance  through  "associations" 
with  forms,  volumes,  tactility,  muscular  activity.1 

By  1912.-13,  the  time  of  this  painting,  Kupka's  thinking  had  developed  further. 
In  his  manuscript  of  this  period  he  differentiates  between  line  (la  ligne)  and  stroke 
(le  trait),  saying  that  whereas  a  line  divides  space,  a  stroke  acts  as  an  autonomous 
graphic  entity.  It  is  an  ideogram:  the  true  expression  of  an  idea.  It  has  nothing  to  do 
with  geometry,  it  is  not  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points.  It  possesses  its 
own  substance  and  presence.  In  support  of  his  theory,  Kupka  referred  to  Rem- 
brandt's etchings.2 

This  emphasis  on  the  expressive  vitality  of  a  line  is  reminiscent  of  van  de  Velde 
and  other  exponents  of  Art  Nouveau.  Kupka's  early  exposure  to  this  idiom  made  a 
profound  impression  on  his  art  and  his  thinking,  traces  of  which  are  still  seen  here 
in  the  dynamic  trajectory  of  a  line  through  space.  As  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  Kupka 
consistently  sought  to  disengage  formal  motifs  from  descriptive  tasks  and  make 
them  function  according  to  their  own  substance.  A  drawing  in  The  Museum  of 
Modern  Art  Study  Collection  bears  the  inscription:  "Solo  of  a  brown  sinuous  [line], 
orchestration  of  spots  placed  with  no  motivation,  solely  to  send  off  and  receive  the 
line." 

The  "spots"  or  triangular  planes  on  either  side  of  the  present  work  resemble  a 
kaleidoscopic  image,  even  though  they  are  based  on  the  familiar  panes  of  stained 
glass  seen  frequently  elsewhere.  Kupka  knew  about  kaleidoscopes  by  this  time  and 
referred  to  them  in  the  same  manuscript  as  a  mirror  technique  for  decomposing 
forms  and  reconstituting  them  into  a  new  homogenous  ensemble.3  These  kaleido- 
scopic shifting  forms  are  seen  in  other  works  of  the  period.1 


103 


109     Study.  1912-13 

Pastel  on  paper,  11%  x  13V2" 
(29.9  x  34.3  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i3-i4" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander 
Liberman 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1950's 


no     Study.  1912-13 

Colored  crayons  and  colored  pencils 
on  paper,  5V&  x  10%"  (13  x  26.5  cm.) 

Stamped  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


&' 


204 


in     Study  for  Lines,  Planes,  Spaces 
(Etude  pour  Traits,  plans,  es- 
paces).  19 1 3 

Gouache  on  paper,  11%  x  9" 
(29.9  x  22.9  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  William  Zierler 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Estate  of  the  artist 

Karl  Flinker 

Spencer  A.  Samuels  and  Co.,  Ltd., 

New  York 

to  present  owner 


112     Untitled.  19 13 

Color  etching,  6Vb  x  i334" 
(15.5  x  35  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  in  plate  lr  "Kupka" 

Il"i9i3" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


During  this  period,  Kupka  did  a  number  of  etchings  on  the  theme  of  acrobats  or 
fairs.  Although  this  etching  is  on  the  borderline  between  figuration  and  abstrac- 
tion, it  captures  the  spirit  of  a  circus;  one  is  reminded  for  example  of  Toulouse- 
Lautrec's  circus  series,  particularly  the  painting  An  cirque  Fernando  of  1888  (Art 
Institute  of  Chicago),  and  of  Kupka's  own  lithograph  of  1899,  The  Fools,  (fig.  3, 
p.  307).  Yet  despite  the  barely  discernible  silhouettes  of  figures,  the  dynamic  sweep 
of  circular  rhythms,  strong  directional  lines  and  dramatic  composition  endow  the 
subject  with  a  cosmic  dimension. 


205 


ii3     Untitled.  19 13 

Color  etching,  6XA  x  9V2" 
(16  x  24  cm.) 

Signed  in  plate  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


1  One  might  look  for  their  source  in 
Kupka's  early  illustrations  for 
L'Hotnme  et  la  terre  (see  fig.  4,  p.  308 


The  cosmic  dimension  seen  emerging  in  the  preceding  etching  is  here  fully  de- 
veloped. At  least  two  motifs  appear  in  this  work  which,  although  conceived  as 
early  as  1912,  will  only  be  fully  elaborated  after  World  War  I.  The  large  circular 
configuration  on  the  left  anticipates  the  series  Around  a  Point  (cat.  nos.  152-160) 
for  which  preliminary  watercolors  were  probably  executed  at  around  this  time. 
However  the  loose  floral  arrangement  in  the  sketches  is  translated  here  into  a  more 
geometric  configuration  because  of  both  the  altered  context  and  the  constraints  of 
the  etching  technique.  The  motifs  on  the  right  were  first  formulated  in  the  two 
paintings  Organization  of  Graphic  Motifs  of  191 2-1 3. l  Again  they  appear  in  the 
etching  in  the  tighter,  stricter  form  of  Kupka's  later  work. 


206 


H4     Evidence  (Evidence).  1914-1919? 

Watercolor  on  paper,  10%  x  8!4" 
(27  x  21  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Royal  S.  Marks  Gallery, 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Estate  of  the  artist 

Karl  Flinker 

Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris 

to  present  owner 


Usually  dated  19 14,  the  type  of  organic  forms  depicted  here  did  not  appear  in 
Kupka's  work  until  after  19 19.  It  is  conceivable  that  this  might  be  an  early  variation 
on  the  theme  Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens. 


207 


ii5     Study  for  The  Colored  One  (Etude 
pour  La  Coloree).  1911-19? 

Pastel  on  paper,  10  x  9" 
(25.4  x  22.9  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


Kupka,  Black  Accent,  c.  1919,  oil,  Private 
Collection. 


208 


1 1 6     The  Colored  One  (La  Coloree). 
1919 

Oil  on  canvas,  25%  x  zt.Va" 
(65  x  54  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York, 
Gift  of  Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller,  1966 
(1810) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Richard  L.  Feigen,  Inc.,  New  York, 

1958 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller, 

December  1961 

to  present  owner,  gift 

EXHIBITIONS: 

New  York,  1966,  SRGM 

New  York,  May-June  1967,  SRGM 

New  York,  June-October  1967, 

SRGM 

*New  York,  1968,  Spencer  A. 

Samuels,  no.  40,  repr. 
New  York,  1969,  SRGM 
New  York,  1970,  SRGM,  p.  257,  repr. 
New  York,  1971,  SRGM,  p.  257,  repr. 
New  York,  1973,  SRGM 


1  In  his  1910-11  manuscript  (Manuscript 
I,  p.  6),  Kupka  quoted  Delacroix:  "For 
the  artist,  nature  is  only  a  dictionary." 


The  Colored  One  is  a  problematic  picture.  The  subject  of  a  woman  lying  on  her 
back  with  a  sun-disk  between  her  open  thighs  is  unique  in  Kupka's  oeuvre.  It  seems 
incongruous  that  Kupka  would  have  reverted  to  such  a  sensuous  and  symbolic 
figurative  subject  after  his  bold  pure  abstractions  of  1911-13.  Yet  the  brushwork 
and  palette  relate  it  unmistakably  to  the  period  1919. 

In  1919,  after  the  war,  when  Kupka  began  painting  seriously  again,  he  returned 
once  more  to  nature  for  his  vocabulary  and  syntax.1  At  this  time  he  did  a  number 
of  experimental  paintings  in  which  the  subject  of  nature  plays  a  prominent  role. 
The  first  series,  Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens  (cat.  nos.  1 17-122)  shows  obvious  and 
direct  references  to  nature  and  biological  processes.  However  this  series  also  con- 
tains an  explicit  symbolic  dimension  which  will  subsequently  be  eliminated  in  favor 
of  more  purely  formal  concerns  (see  discussion,  cat.  no.  120). 

Kupka  produced  a  number  of  preliminary  paintings  before  arriving  at  the  defini- 
tive formulation  of  this  theme.  One  of  the  pictures  shows  brightly  colored  human 
silhouettes  massed  together  in  a  rhythmic  organic  image  (fig.,  p.  20S).  This  motif 
will  emerge  as  the  core  of  two  of  the  Pistils  paintings,  where  it  will  illustrate  the 
erotic  dimension  of  Kupka's  symbolism.  The  Colored  One  can  be  related  to  this 
cycle;  it  appears  as  a  first  attempt  to  illustrate  Kupka's  allegory  of  floral  fecundation. 


209 


ii7     Study  for  Tale  of  Pistils  and 
Stamens  (Etude  pour  Conte  de 
pistils  et  d'et  amines).  1919? 

Light  gray  chalk  or  charcoal  on 
paper,  17  x  17W  (43  x  44  cm.) 

Stamped  lr  "Kupka" 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
to  present  owner 


1 1 8     Study  for  Tale  of  Pistils  and 
Stamens  (Etude  pour  Conte  de 
pistils  et  d'etamines).  19 19 

Watercolor  on  paper,  10%  x  yVs" 
(27.5  x  24  cm.) 
Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York 
(1704) 
PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Karl  Flinker 

to  present  owner,  1964 

EXHIBITIONS: 

New  York,  June-October  1967, 

SRGM 

::'New  York,  1968,  Spencer  A. 

Samuels,  no.  41 

New  York,  July-September  1969, 

SRGM,  p.  50,  repr.  color 

New  York,  December  1969-January 

1970,  SRGM 

New  York,  1970,  p.  256,  repr. 

New  York,  1971,  SRGM,  p.  256,  repr. 


211 


1 19     Study  for  Tale  of  Pistils  and 
Stamens  (Etude  pour  Conte  de 
pistils  et  d'etamines).  1919 

Watercolor  on  paper,  11%  x  10%" 
(31.5  x  2.7  cm.) 

Signed  II  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


izo     Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens  I 

(Conte  de  pistils  et  d'etamines  I). 
1919 

Oil  on  canvas,  33V2  x  28%" 
(85  x73  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  Ir  "Kupka//^3" 

Fedit,  no.  72,  repr. 

Vachtova,  no.  206,  repr.  p.  303 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4181-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1919,  Salon  d'Automne,  no. 
1035 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  24  (dated 
1919-20) 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  52  (dated 
192-3) 


Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens  is  probably  Kupka's  first  significant  post-war  series. 
As  mentioned  elsewhere,  it  shows  a  renewed  interest  in  biological  processes.  This 
interest  had  been  formulated  in  Kupka's  mind  by  191 2-1 3.  In  the  manuscript  for 
his  book  he  wrote:  "In  broad  daylight,  every  plant  raises  its  flowers  to  the  heights. 
The  stamens,  with  their  joyous  phallic  forms  fecundate  the  gracious  pistils.  It  is 
a  real  pollen  festival  in  the  gynoecium  bathed  in  sunlight,  and  surrounded  by  the 
petals  which  unfold  to  protect  the  event  of  conception."1  This  baroque  "tale"  is 
as  imaginative  an  interpretation  of  biological  facts  as  are  the  artist's  paintings  on 
the  same  theme. 


i  Manuscript  IV,  pp.  80-81. 

2  It  is  possible  that  the  fourth  work  in 
this  group  is  a  gouache,  visible  in  the 
installation  photograph  (fig.  11,  p. 
313).  However,  this  cannot  be  taken 
for  granted  as  the  gouache  may  be  one 
of  the  unidentified  "studies"  also 
shown  in  the  exhibition  (la  Boetie,  cat. 
nos.  70-101:  "Etudes  1919-24"). 


Three  paintings  from  this  cycle  are  known  today,  although  four  were  exhibited 
at  la  Boetie  in  192.4,  all  dated  1919-20,  which  seem  to  be  the  proper  dates.2  The 
present  version  appears  to  be  the  earliest  one.  Cat.  no.  121,  like  cat.  no.  122,  shows 
a  cluster  of  anthropomorphic  forms  in  the  center,  and  thereby  illustrates  Kupka's 
"tale"  more  literally. 

In  addition  to  the  biological  inspiration,  the  vigorous  thrust  in  depth,  vertiginous 
motion  and  vivid  colors  which  provoke  associations  with  nature,  endow  these 
paintings  with  a  true  cosmic  sense. 


213 


Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens  (Conte 
de  pistils  et  d'etamines).  1919-20 

Oil  on  canvas,  43%  x  ?>6Va" 
(110x92  cm.) 

Dated  and  signed  lr  "i92o//Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  205,  repr.  pp.  161-162 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O11163) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

intervening  history  unknown 

on  deposit  at  Ministry  of  Foreign 

Affairs 

to  present  owner,  1965 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  one  of  nos. 

25-27 
*Prague,  1946,  Manes  (hors 

catalogue;  installation  photograph) 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  35 
"'Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965 
::"Prague,  1965,  no.  6 
London,  1967,  no.  79,  repr. 
Brussels-Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  79 
Trague,  1968,  no.  66,  repr. 
''Belgrade,  1969,  no.  11,  repr. 


214 


"5 


i  zz     Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens  II  or 
HI  (Conte  de  pistils  et  d'etamines 
II  on  III).  1919-zo 

Oil  on  canvas,  31V2  x  35V2" 
(80x90  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Wilhelm  Hack,  Cologne 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"'Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  25,  2.6  or 

27  (dated  1919-20,  installation 

photograph) 
"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  25 

(installation  photograph) 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  53  (dated 

1923,  installation  photograph) 
Cologne,  Kolnischer  Kunstverein, 
November  12-December  20, 1964, 
Kunst  des  20.  Jahrhimderts  in  Kolner 
Privatbesitz,  no.  55,  repr. 
Frankfurt,  Kunstverein,  June  25- 
August7, 1966,  Vorn  lmpressionismus 
zum  Bauhaus:  Meistenverke  aus 
deutscbem  Privatbesitz.  Traveled  to 
Hamburg,  Kunstverein,  August  27- 
October  16,  1966,  no.  38,  repr. 
Dusseldorf,  Kunstverein  fur  die 
Rheinlande  und  Westfalen,  April  23- 
June  29, 1969,  Sammlung  Wilhelm 
Hack,  no.  96,  repr. 


Although  listed  by  Kupka  in  his  1946  retrospective  as  the  second  painting  in  this 
cycle,  it  was  perhaps  so  designated  for  the  needs  of  the  exhibition,  the  catalogue 
for  which  contained  only  two  works  of  this  title.  The  Narodnf  Galerie  painting 
(cat.  no.  121),  which  was  shown  hors  catalogue  in  1946,  seems  stylistically  to  be- 
long between  this  painting  and  cat.  no.  120.  It  has  essentially  the  same  composition 
and  loosely  painted  forms  as  Pistils  I,  and  contains  the  same  anthropomorphic 
central  motif  as  the  present  painting,  which  we  would  tend  to  identify  as  Pistils  III. 
The  composition  of  this  painting  is  quite  different  from  the  other  two.  It  is 
extremely  close  to  a  painting  of  1920-21,  Crystal,  from  the  Gothic  Contrasts  series 
which  Kupka  developed  immediately  after  this  cycle,  and  in  which  he  used  some 
of  the  same  burgeoning  motifs,  natural  colors,  and  even  the  central  configuration 
of  writhing  bodies  within  the  framework  of  a  stained  glass  window.  Pistils  III 
also  shows  a  flatter  brushstroke  than  that  found  in  the  two  earlier  versions,  tauter 
forms,  more  controlled  rhythms  and  a  more  nuanced  chromatic  progression,  once 
more  relating  it  to  slightly  later  works. 


216 


2I7 


123     Gothic  Contrasts  (Contrastes 
gothiques).  c.  1920 

Oil  on  canvas,  26  x  28"  (66  x  71  cm.) 
Signed  11  "Kupka" 
Collection  Camille  Renault 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


1  The  latter  painting  was  dated  19Z5  by 
Kupka.  However,  on  stylistic  grounds, 
the  author  would  prefer  to  date  it 
192.1-zz,  like  the  Providence  painting. 


It  is  tempting  to  compare  this  painting  with  Delaunay's  St.  Severin  series  of  1909-10 
and  thereby  situate  it  earlier  in  Kupka's  oeuvre.  One  might  also  be  tempted  to 
consider  it  an  early  study  of  a  Gothic  interior  and  attribute  it  to  the  artist's  early 
figurative  period.  Yet  the  facture  indicates  a  later  dating.  One  can  only  conclude 
that  this  was  one  of  Kupka's  experimental  post-war  paintings  in  which  he  returned 
briefly  to  figurative  themes  in  order  to  work  out  problems  of  color  and  form.  In 
fact  the  subject  of  Gothic  vaulting  and  windows  led  Kupka  to  produce  a  unique 
figurative  cycle  on  which  he  worked  between  c.  1920-25.  He  elaborated  the  theme 
so  as  to  accentuate  the  optical  illusions  of  perspective  as  seen  through  the  complex 
network  of  vaulted  arcades  in  a  church.  Sometimes  he  borrowed  the  dynamic 
motion  and  biological  forms  and  palette  from  the  immediately  preceding  Pistils 
cycle  (see  cat.  nos.  120-122).  Eventually,  the  connected  arabesques  of  pointed  arches 
would  lead  him  to  the  undulating  rhythms  of  the  paintings  Moving  Blues  of  1923- 
24  (see  cat.  nos.  148-150). 

Three  other  paintings  of  this  cycle  are  known:  Crystal,  c.  1920-21  (Collection 
Gallien);  Gothic  Contrast,  c.  1921-22  (Museum  of  Art,  Rhode  Island  School  of 
Design,  Providence);  Gothic  Contrasts,  c.  1925  (MNAM,  Paris).1 


218 


zi9 


124     Essay,  Vigor  (Essai,  robustesse). 
1920 

Oil  on  canvas,  59%  x  39%" 
(150  x  100  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i92o" 

Vachtova,  no.  215,  repr.  p.  149 

Collection  Margit  Chanin,  Ltd. 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

''Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  44 
a'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  38 
"'Paris,  1964,  Louis  Carre,  no.  10 


1  See  cat.  no.  5  for  example.  Also, 
Window  on  the  Beach,  c.  1901, 
MOMA,  The  Joan  and  Lester  Avnet 
Collection.  The  rocks  appeared  in  the 
first  version  of  Ballad-Joys  (cat.  no.  8; 
see  discussion).  See  also  Vachtova, 

p.  148. 

2  AhoMotif  hindou  or  Degrades  rouges, 
\<)io  {Hindu  Motif  or  Red  Grada- 
tions), MNAM,  Paris. 

3  Fedit,  cat.  no.  69,  p.  86. 


In  1920,  Kupka  spent  the  summer  in  Brittany,  as  he  had  done  many  times  before, 
starting  at  least  as  early  as  1900.  The  curious  rock  formations  found  on  the 
Brittany  coast  are  seen  in  much  of  his  work,  particularly  between  1900  and  1904. : 
The  dramatic  monolithic  shapes  in  the  present  painting  echo  this  familiar  motif. 

The  upward  thrust  of  rounded  vertical  forms  crowned  by  an  agitated  mass  of 
clouds  reveals  one  source  of  Kupka's  inspiration  for  the  Hindu  Motifs  cycle  (cat. 
nos.  125,  128,  137).2  However,  while  the  present  image  derives  from  the  perceived 
world,  in  the  ensuing  years  the  motifs  will  be  translated  into  a  progressively  more 
imaginary  landscape. 

The  title  implies  that  this  work  may  be  a  first  attempt  to  formulate  a  theme. 
In  fact,  a  painting,  Facture  robuste  (Vigorous  Brusbwork)  of  1920  (MNAM,  Paris) 
contains  the  same  bold  forms  and  colors  and  is  visibly  based  on  the  same  pictorial 
ideas.  Since  it  shows  definite  similarities  with  the  Pistils  series,  appearing  more 
advanced  than  the  first,  and  less  than  the  last  version  shown  here,  it  seems  safe 
to  maintain  the  date  of  1920  for  these  two  paintings. 

Fedit  relates  Vigorous  Brusbwork  to  the  Creation  series3  and  says  it  shows  an 
attempt  to  depict  the  birth  of  the  world  from  its  original  chaos. 


221 


125     Blue  Scaffolding  (Cbarpente 
bleue).  1919 

Oil  on  canvas,  29V2  x  33V2" 
(75  x85  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  217,  repr.  p.  150, 
color  pi.  XIII 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O3828) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 


EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1919,  Salon  d'Automne,  no. 

1036  (as  Armature  bleue) 

'Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  39  (dated 

1921) 
*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  28 
::'Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  48  (dated 

1920) 

*Usti  nad  Orlicf,  1965,  no.  6 
'"Cologne,  1967,  no.  72,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  72,  repr.; 

Vienna,  1967,  no.  29;  Amsterdam, 

no.  50,  repr.;  Prague,  1969,  no.  68, 

repr. 
"Belgrade,  1969,  no.  13,  repr. 


iz6     Untitled.  1919 

Gouache  on  paper,  8%  x  6" 
(22.3  x  15.2  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Gribin 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Robert  Elkon  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 


127     Chromatic  Vibrations  (Vibrations 
chromatiques).  1919-20 

Gouache  on  paper,  yVs  x  10" 
(24.5  x  25.2  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Collection  Peter  Gimpel 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
to  present  owner 


223 


iz8     Intensifications  (Intensifications). 
1921 

Oil  on  canvas,  31x31" 

(78.7.x  78.7  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Private  Collection,  New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Rose  Fried  Gallery,  New  York, 

June  1958 

to  present  owner,  December  1958 

EXHIBITION: 

;:'Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  38  (dated 
1921) 


The  Hindu  Motif  or  Scaffolding  series  evolved  from  a  number  of  themes  which 
Kupka  was  exploring  c.  1919-20.  Obviously  deriving  initially  from  the  pre-war 
paintings  Creation  and  Cosmic  Spring  (cat.  nos.  80,  82),  Kupka's  reworking  of 
these  early  paintings  in  1919-21  may  have  acted  as  a  catalyst  in  the  elaboration  of 
this  series.  Formal  innovations  developed  in  the  diverse  cycles  of  Tale  of  Pistils  and 
Stamens  (cat.  nos.  1 17-122),  Essay,  Vigor  and  Vigorous  Brushivork  (see  cat.  no. 
124),  Gothic  Contrasts  (cat.  no.  123)  and  studies  of  marine  life  (cat.  no.  126)  con- 
tributed to  its  formulation.  It  should  be  noted  that  all  of  these  cycles  except  the 
Gothic  Contrasts  series  are  interpretations  of  biological  growth  and  vitality.  The 
Gothic  Contrasts  series  contributes  the  dimension  of  architecture  applied  to  organic 
life. 

The  Hindu  Motif  or  Scaffolding  cycle  includes  four  paintings  and  a  number  of 
gouaches  and  watercolors.  The  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague,  version,  Blue  Scaffolding 
(cat.  no.  125)  is  probably  the  earliest,  dating  from  1919.  The  left  side  contains 
motifs  which  are  extremely  close  to  those  found  in  Cosmic  Spring  II  (cat.  no.  82). 
Hindu  Motif  or  Red  Gradations  is  probably  the  second  version  (MNAM,  Paris; 
see  Fedit,  cat.  no.  73,  p.  91).  Dated  1919  by  Fedit,  its  close  similarity  to  Essay,  Vigor 
argues  for  a  1920  dating. 

Intensifications  is  probably  the  third  in  the  series.  Dated  1921  by  Kupka  for  his 
1924  exhibition  at  la  Boetie,  the  more  evenly  regulated  progression  of  growth,  and 
the  more  clear  cut  stylized  forms  confirm  this  later  dating.  Finally  Green  and  Blue 
(cat.  no.  137)  is  the  last  in  the  series,  by  which  time  the  theme  has  been  transformed 
into  a  visionary  architecture. 

A  photograph  found  among  Kupka's  possessions  shows  either  a  study  or  an 
early  version  of  Intensifications  which  would  subsequently  have  been  repainted 
(fig.).  The  initial  inspiration  from  natural  floral  growth  is  clearly  visible.  The 
vertical  planes  framing  the  composition,  seen  in  this  version  and  not  in  the  others, 
make  it  closer  in  feeling  to  Gothic  Contrasts  (cat.  no.  123). 


Kupka,  early  version  of  Intensifications. 


224 


2Z5 


129     Flaccid  Forms  (Formes  flasques). 
1921-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  25%  x  25%" 
(65.5x65.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Joseph  H.  Hazen 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Richard  L.  Feigen,  Inc.,  New  York 

Royal  S.  Marks,  New  York 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  56  (dated 

192-5) 
'"New  York,  1961,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  6 
,:"New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

entry  C 
Cambridge,  1966;  Los  Angeles,  1967; 
Berkeley,  1967;  Houston,  1967; 
Honolulu,  1967 


A  list  of  paintings  compiled  by  Eugenie  Kupka  in  1956  includes  the  entry:  "Formes 
flasques  (motif  indou)  [sic]  1925."  Kupka  dated  the  painting  1925  in  his  1946 
Prague  catalogue.  However  due  to  its  inspiration,  facture,  palette  and  attribution 
as  a  Hindu  Motif,  one  is  inclined  to  think  it  was  started  c.  1921,  and  there  is  nothing 
that  points  to  it  being  reworked  after  1923. 

The  dominant  motifs  of  Flaccid  Forms  are  the  stylized  anvil-shaped  clouds  seen 
as  early  as  1911-20  in  Cosmic  Spring  II  (cat.  no.  82),  reproduced  in  more  stylized 
form  in  Kupka's  black  and  white  gouache  on  the  same  theme  (cat.  no.  130). 
Clearly,  in  composition  and  palette,  this  is  a  variation  on  the  Cosmic  Spring  theme. 
Another  painting,  Debris  of  1920  (Private  Collection,  Switzerland),  shows  the  same 
loose  composition,  brilliant  palette  and  nebulous  forms. 

The  revisions  up  to  1923  may  include  a  reinforcing  of  the  central  nimbus.  This 
nimbus  occurs  in  paintings  of  the  1919-23  period  of  a  cycle  called  The  Form  of 
Yellow  (see  Vachtova,  p.  195,  for  example).  The  configuration  has  an  interesting 
history.  It  is  derived  from  Kupka's  1917-18  illustrations  for  The  Song  of  Roland. 
One  of  these  academic  illustrations  done  during  the  war  shows  the  same  haloed 
light  and  nebulous  forms  as  found  in  this  painting  (fig.  9,  p. 312).  It  also  contains 
similar  superpositions  of  foreground  and  background  motifs. 


226 


130     Cosmic  Spring  (Printemps  cos- 
mique).  1921 

Gouache  on  paper,  15%  x  12V6" 
(40  x  30.8  cm.) 

Signed  r  of  c  "Kupka" 

Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


227 


131     Study  after  The  Language  of 
Verticals.  1921 

Gouache  on  paper,  15%  x  xy'/ii' 
(39  x34  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


1  Cosmic  Spring,  started  1911,  see  cat. 
no.  82.;  Study  for  The  Language  of 
Verticals,  c.  1911,  Collection  Louis 
Carre,  Paris;  see  also  cat.  no.  67. 

2  Arnould-Gremilly,  1922,  p.  15.  This 
study  is  not  identical  to  the  final 
version. 

3  La  Creation  dans  les  arts  plastiques, 
p.  104. 

4  See  window  curtains  in  fig.,  p.  6. 


In  1920-21,  Kupka  prepared  the  woodcut  illustrations  for  two  books  which 
appeared  in  1922  and  1923  respectively:  Arnould-Gremilly's  monograph  and  the 
artist's  own  treatise  on  painting.  Most  of  the  illustrations  were  drawn  from  earlier 
existing  works.  The  two  exhibited  here  were  inspired  by  paintings  of  the  same 
title  which  were  conceived  prior  to  World  War  I.1 

The  black  and  white  rendering  of  Cosmic  Spring  served  as  the  frontispiece  for 
Kupka's  book,  La  Creation  dans  les  arts  plastiques.  Study  after  The  Language  of 
Verticals  was  used  as  an  illustration  for  the  monograph.2  A  long  horizontal  version 
of  the  same  motif  is  also  found  in  Kupka's  book.3 

The  inspiration  for  the  tightly  pleated  vertical  motifs  which  Kupka  developed 
at  an  early  date  has  sometimes  been  attributed  to  the  mottled  patterns  of  light 
through  the  embroidered  window  curtains  at  Puteaux.4 

Many  of  the  black  and  white  motifs  Kupka  developed  in  1921  would  be  taken 
up  again  in  his  1926  album  of  woodcuts  (cat.  no.  165). 


3  2.     Unsteady  Planes  (Plans  instables). 
192.1 

Oil  on  paperboard,  18V2  x  30" 
(43  x76  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka;"  inscribed  lr 
"plans instables" 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene, 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Andree  Martinel-Kupka 

Karl  Flinker-Daniel  Gervis,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"'Paris,  1921,  Povolozky,  no.  16 
*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  34 

(as  Plans  en  mouvement) 
:iTaris,  1964,  Karl  Flinker,  no.  101 
^Cologne,  1967,  no.  100,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  100,  repr.; 

Vienna,  1967,  no.  32;  Amsterdam, 

1968,  no.  55,  repr.;  Prague,  1968, 

no.  72,  repr. 
Krefeld,  1969  (cat.  not  located) 


In  1920-21,  Kupka  did  a  large  series  of  works  exclusively  in  black  and  white. 
These  were  exhibited  at  the  Galerie  Povolozky  in  1921.  At  the  same  time  he  was 
preparing  woodcut  illustrations  for  two  books  (cat.  nos.  130,  131).  It  is  hard  to  say 
whether  the  work  for  the  illustrations  inspired  the  black  and  white  paintings  or 
whether  they  evolved  independently  from  other  sources.  Kupka's  friendship  with 
the  master  wood-block  printer  and  painter  A.  P.  Gallien,  who  had  been  painting 
black  and  white  abstract  subjects  on  canvas  since  1920,  should  be  mentioned  in 
this  context.  It  is  plausible  that  Gallien's  example  was  one  factor  in  Kupka's 
decision  to  work  in  black  and  white. 

Unsteady  Planes  is  an  excellent  example  of  Kupka's  autonomous  black  and  white 
style.  Possibly  inspired  in  its  organic  forms  by  a  detail  of  a  cosmic  composition, 
and  in  its  formal  repetition  by  the  various  studies  of  "pleated"  vertical  planes,  the 
cadenced  progression  of  forms  through  space  echoes  the  artist's  earlier  investiga- 
tions of  consecutive  motion  (cat.  nos.  9,  46-51). 


129 


133     The  Fair  or  The  Quadrille  (La 
Voire  ou  La  Contredanse). 
1920-21 

Oil  on  canvas,  zS3A  x  93%" 
(73  x  238  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  222,  repr.  p.  176 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner,  1975 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1921,  Povolozky,  no.  28  (as 

La  Contredanse) 
"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  30  (as 

La  Contredanse,  dated  1920-21) 
"'New  York,  1951,  Louis  Carre,  no.  7, 

repr. 
"'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  39  (dated 

1921) 
*Paris,  1964,  Louis  Carre,  no.  12 

(dated  1921) 


1  See  The  Fools,  fig.  3,  p.  307. 
1  See  cat.  nos.  112, 113. 

3  Busch-Reisinger  Museum,  Cambridge, 
Mass. 

4  MNAM,  Paris;  Fedit,  cat.  no.  95, 

p.  108;  Fedit  relates  this  painting  to 
stroboscopic  images. 

5  Published  in  La  Vie  des  lettres,  October 
1911,  pp.  670-686.  Reprinted  in  book 
form  1921  (see  bibliography).  Present 
quote,  p.  680. 


Since  it  was  purchased  by  Louis  Carre  in  1951,  this  painting  has  been  exhibited 
and  reproduced  under  the  title  La  Loire.  Because  the  theme  of  a  fair  or  circus  was 
one  which  Kupka  treated  as  early  as  18991  and  returned  to  intermittently  through- 
out his  career,2  this  title  seems  logical  and  appropriate,  even  though  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  its  source. 

The  installation  photograph  of  Kupka's  1924  la  Boetie  retrospective  shows  that 
this  painting  was  exhibited  there.  However  the  title  La  Loire  is  not  included  in  the 
catalogue,  and  the  only  title  which  seems  to  correspond  to  this  painting  is  La 
Contredanse,  dated  1920-21.  The  title  La  Contredanse  appears  in  the  Povolozky 
catalogue  of  1921,  the  year  in  which  Kupka  finished  the  painting. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  believing  that  this  canvas  was  originally  called 
La  Contredanse  {The  Quadrille).  The  first  is  the  imagery  itself.  A  quadrille  is  a 
French  country  dance,  like  a  square  dance,  in  which  four  couples  face  and  bow  off 
from  one  another.  Although  the  present  painting  is  essentially  abstract,  it  is  ob- 
viously about  measured  rhythms  and  consecutive  motion,  and  in  certain  areas  one 
can  even  decipher  human  silhouettes  shuffling  and  bowing  in  evenly  cadenced 
rhythms.  These  silhouettes  are  related  to  Kupka's  paintings  of  1919-20,  The 
Colored  One  (cat.  no.  116)  and  Black  Accent  (fig.,  p.  208). 

The  decomposition  of  movement  across  a  horizontal  field  may  be  loosely  com- 
pared to  that  in  Unsteady  Planes  (cat.  no.  132),  also  shown  at  Povolozky  in  1921. 
Yet  the  shattered  and  spliced  effect  of  the  motion  goes  back  to  Kupka's  early 
drawing,  The  Horsemen  (cat.  no.  9),  inspired  by  the  Praxinoscope.  There  seems 
no  doubt  that  Kupka  was  involved  with  the  representation  of  movement  in  time 
and  space  during  this  period.  In  fact,  one  painting  dated  1920,  L'Heure  (The 
Hour)}  and  a  second  dated  1925,  Le  Temps  passe  or  LTnstant  (Passing  Time  or 
The  Moment)4  which  was  probably  painted  closer  to  1921,  confirm  this  preoccupa- 
tion with  stroboscopic  images  unfolding  in  time. 

At  the  opening  of  Kupka's  1921  exhibition,  Arnould-Gremilly  gave  a  lecture 
about  the  artist's  work  in  which  he  seems  to  refer  precisely  to  this  painting:  "In 
order  to  achieve  a  florid  counterpoint,  a  fugue,  or  a  free  style,  mustn't  one  turn 
to  cinematographic  projection?  The  latter  alone  can  endow  the  simultaneously 
presented  two  dimensions  of  the  canvas  with  a  third  more  musical  dimension, 
progression  in  duration,  measured  rhythm,  cadenced  movement,  repetition  in 
time."5 


230 


i3 1 


134     Triangular  Composition  (Com- 
position triangulaire).  1920-21 

Oil  on  canvas,  26  x  27V6" 
(66  x  70  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

Rose  Fried  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 


1  MNAM,  Paris;  Fedit,  cat.  no.  82,  p.  98. 
The  painting  is  inscribed  1912.  How- 
ever Fedit  finds  this  stylistically 
improbable  and  refers  to  Kupka's  195 1 
inventory  in  which  he  dated  it  1919. 

2  See  Fedit,  cat.  no.  75,  p.  94  for  photo- 
graph of  initial  version. 


This  work  may  be  related  to  two  other  known  paintings  of  c.  1920-22:  Compli- 
ment1 and  En  degrades  (Gradations,  fig.;  present  whereabouts  unknown).  Com- 
pliment is  probably  the  earliest  of  the  three  and  may  be  dated  c.  1919-20.  In 
Compliment,  the  dynamic  organic  rhythms  on  the  left  are  related  to  Tale  of 
Pistils  and  Stamens  11  or  111  (cat.  no.  122),  whereas  the  "bowing,"  shuffling  planes 
on  the  right,  although  completely  abstract,  evoke  not  only  the  rhythms  of  the 
Women  Picking  Flowers  series  (cat.  nos.  46-51)  but  relate  to  The  Quadrille  (cat.  no. 
133).  The  burgeoning  motifs  on  the  left  are  also  close  in  treatment  to  those  in  other 
1920  paintings  such  as  Essay,  Vigor  (cat.  no.  124). 

Triangular  Composition  like  The  Quadrille  (cat.  no.  133)  retains  the  same  bright 
palette  as  Compliment,  and  a  somewhat  similar  grouping  of  motifs.  However  here 
the  rippling  forms  and  organic  rhythms  are  translated  into  more  distinctly  and 
evenly  defined  and  graded  planes.  These  planes,  which  still  show  loose  vibrant 
brushwork,  are  close  to  those  in  the  first  version  of  Animated  Lines  (cat.  no.  135)2 
which  was  exhibited  in  1920  in  its  first  state. 

Gradations,  last  of  the  three,  shows  the  even  shading  and  flatter  brushwork 
which  Kupka  developed  between  1920  and  1922.  This  painting  was  exhibited  at 
la  Boetie  as  Degrades,  dated  1920-22  (la  Boetie,  cat.  no.  37). 

The  curved  forms  in  all  three  of  these  paintings  anticipate  the  final  stricter 
rendering  of  the  same  theme:  Planes  by  Curves  of  1926-30  (cat.  nos.  161,  162). 


Kupka,  Gradations,  1910-22,  oil,  present 
whereabouts  unknown. 


*33 


135     Animated  Lines  (Lignes  animees). 
1920-21;  reworked  between 
1924-33 

Oil  on  canvas,  76x78%" 
(193  x  200  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka  21 ;" 
11  "lignes//animees" 

Fedit,  no.  75,  repr. 

Vachtova,  no.  212  (dated  1919-34), 
pi.  XV 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  3565-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  1957 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1920,  Salon  d'Automne, 

no.  1249  (first  state) 

*Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie  (dated  1920-21) 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  37 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  140  (dated 

1919-21) 
Paris,  1948,  Salon  des  Realties 
Noiwelles  (hors  catalogue) 
*Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realties 

Noiwelles  (hors  catalogue) 
Paris,  1954,  Salon  des  Realties 
Noiwelles,  no.  345 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  41,  pi.  XV 
Rennes,  1961 

Vienna,  1962,  no.  in  (asBeseelt 
Linien),  repr.  (on  its  side) 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  26,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  26,  repr.; 

Vienna,  1967,  no.  31,  repr.; 

Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  52,  repr.; 

Prague,  1968,  no.  70,  repr. 


Obviously  based  on  the  idea  of  cosmic  rotation,  this  painting  presents  analogies 
with  three  of  Kupka's  pictorial  themes:  Organization  of  Graphic  Motifs  (cat.  nos. 
102-106),  Tale  of  Pistils  and  Stamens  (cat.  nos.  117-122)  and  Around  a  Point 
(cat.  nos.  152-160).  In  its  original  state,  the  present  painting  showed  a  more  organic 
center,  closer  to  the  Pistils  and  Stamens  series,  and  the  more  fluid  forms  character- 
istic of  Kupka's  1920  work.  Sometime  between  1924  and  1933,  the  canvas  was 
reworked  and  brought  to  its  present  state.1 

In  1910-11,  Kupka  wrote:  "A  point  which  acts  as  a  nucleus.  Concentration  of 
rays.  It  is  determined  by  the  centrifugal  directions  of  lines  or  planes.  Converging 
rays,  converging  lines,  which  then  reach  outward  to  infinity."2 


1  See  discussion  and  photograph  of 
original  state  in  Fedit. 

2  Manuscript  I,  p.  40. 


234 


^35 


136     Lines,  Planes,  Depths  (Traits, 
plans,  profondetirs).  1920-22 

Oil  on  canvas,  31V2  x  28V2" 
(80  x72  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Lucy  Delmarle 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Felix  Del  Marie 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

'Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  31? 
Lille,  1925,  no.  4 
"'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  53  (as 
Dominante  bleue) 


1  Collection  Joseph  H.  Hazen,  New 
York;  NG,  Prague;  and  the  present 
painting. 

2  Seen  on  a  color  slide  taken  by 
Alexander  Liberman  in  preparation  for 
The  Artist  in  bis  Studio,  n.d.;  see 
bibliography. 

3  See  Fedit's  discussion,  her  cat.  no.  74, 
p.  91. 

4  Andree  Martinel-Kupka  (in  conversa- 
tion with  the  author),  1974. 


Five  paintings  on  this  theme  are  known  today.  The  earliest  version  (MNAM,  Paris; 
Fedit,  cat.  no.  74,  pp.  92-93),  dated  1918-20  by  Fedit,  is  the  most  heavily  painted 
and  emphasizes  a  biological  inspiration.  Indeed,  in  its  brooding  blues,  purples, 
blacks  and  grays,  it  evokes  a  species  of  marine  flora.  A  second  version  (NG,  Prague) 
shows  the  same  dense  brushwork  and  tonalities.  In  contrast  to  these,  three  some- 
what later  versions  (probably  1920-23)1  in  their  transparency  of  color  and  over- 
lapping forms,  no  longer  call  to  mind  biological  life,  but  an  ephemeral  shifting  of 
light  through  panes  of  glass.  Kupka  had  a  carved  wooden  panel  in  his  studio, 
cut  out  and  glazed  with  a  similar  stylized  floral  motif.2  The  backdrop  for  these 
panes  was  a  rich  resonant  blue  which  filtered  through  the  glass  in  different  azure 
tones.  Although  Kupka's  painting  once  again  depicts  rotation,  even  arterial  circula- 
tion,3 and  refers  distantly  to  organic  life,  this  openwork  panel  in  Kupka's  house 
was  obviously  one  of  several  sources  of  inspiration  for  the  final  pictorial  idea. 

One  of  the  series  (which  one  is  unclear)  was  exhibited  at  the  Salon  des  hide- 
pendants  of  1923.  Another,  dated  1913-22,  was  exhibited  at  la  Boetie  (la  Boetie 
cat.  no.  31).  Possibly  it  was  this  one,  since  the  artist  Del  Marie  helped  finance  this 
exhibition  and  Kupka  was  "very  grateful  to  Del  Marie  for  his  help  and  support."4 
According  to  Fedit,  the  first  studies  for  this  theme  were  done  before  World  War  I, 
which  explains  the  la  Boetie  dating. 


236 


2-37 


137     Green  and  Blue  (Vert  et  bleu). 
1921-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  $zVi  x  32" 
(133.3  x  81.2  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  Ir  "Kupka//23" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Gribin 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Liberman, 

1950's 

Robert  Elkon  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  40  (as 
Charpente  bleue  11,  dated  1921, 
subsequently  reworked  and  redated) 

*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  29 

"'Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  50  (dated 
1923) 

::"New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  2 
New  York,  Robert  Elkon  Gallery, 
September  30-November  2, 1972, 
Twentieth  Century  Masters,  no.  20, 
repr.  (as  Untitled,  dated  1923) 


1  See  discussion  of  this  series,  cat.  no. 

128. 

2  The  la  Boetie  catalogue  lists  Charpente 
bleue  I  and  11,  cat.  nos.  39  and  40,  both 
dated  1921.  The  painting  Blue  Scaffold- 
ing (cat.  no.  125)  is  usually  identified 

as  Blue  Scaffolding  II,  1920-21.  How- 
ever the  Prague  painting  was  exhibited 
in  the  1919  Salon  d'Automne  (as 
Armature  bleue,  no.  1036).  This  paint- 
ing is  obviously  the  later  of  the  two. 


Green  and  Blue,  also  known  as  Green  and  Blue  Scaffolding  (Charpente  verte  et 
bleue)  (see  Prague,  1946,  cat.  no.  50)  is  the  last  of  the  Scaffolding  or  Hindu  Motif 
series.  In  contrast  to  the  earlier  works  in  this  group1  based  on  biological  forms  and 
cosmic  landscapes,  Green  and  Blue  shows  an  extension  of  these  pictorial  ideas  into 
a  mystical  architecture.  This  dimension  is  achieved  through  the  vertical  format  of 
the  painting  which  accentuates  its  upward  thrust.  It  is  reinforced  by  the  pale 
ephemeral  colors,  applied  in  evenly  graded  planes  which  no  longer  connote  the 
dynamic  surge  of  organic  growth  but  instead  evoke  a  celestial  architecture.  Thus, 
the  present  picture  marks  a  transition  between  the  earlier  works  in  the  series  and 
the  paintings  known  as  Upivard  Thrust  of  1922-23  (cat.  nos.  139-140). 

Green  and  Blue  was  exhibited  at  la  Boetie  in  1924,  as  Charpente  bleue  11,  dated 
1921  (la  Boetie  cat.  no.  40).  In  the  context  of  the  other  related  pictures,  a  1921-23 
date  appears  preferable.2 


138     Study  for  Upward  Thrust  (Etude 
pour  Le  ) 'aillissement).  1921-22 

Gouache  on  paper,  10%  x  6V2" 
(27.3  x  16.5  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York, 
Gift  of  Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris, 
1964  (1705) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 
to  present  owner,  gift 


239 


•  1 39     Upward  Thrust  I  (Le  Jaillissement 

I).  1922-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  47/^  x  32?/$," 
(121  x  83  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i923" 

Vachtova,  no.  167  (as  Outspurt  II), 
color  pi.  XII 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O5944) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1953 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  2.6 
(as  Jaillissement,  either  present 
work  or  another  of  series) 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  118 
''Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  48 

*Pfsek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 
no.  18. 

Hluboke-Brno,  1966,  no.  234 

"Cologne,  1967,  no.  74,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  74,  repr.; 

Vienna,  1967,  no.  34,  repr.  no.  38; 

Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  59,  repr. 

black  and  white,  color;  Prague, 

1968,  no.  69,  repr. 
Stockholm,  1973,  no.  97 


The  theme  of  the  vertical  or  upward  thrust  is  a  recurrent  one  in  Kupka's  oeuvre, 
found  in  paintings  both  earlier  and  later  than  these.  Before  World  War  I,  they 
were  generally  inspired  by  Gothic  interiors;  after  1919  they  expressed  biological 
vitality. 

These  two  paintings,  while  retaining  the  vigor  of  the  later  works,  clearly  tend 
toward  the  architectural.1  The  billowing  shapes  of  the  1919-22  pictures  are  gradu- 
ally transformed  into  rectilinear  planes.  Similarly,  color,  formerly  rich  and  vibrant, 
shows  a  new  austerity.  The  effect  of  bunched  columns,  and  the  juxtaposition  of 
neutral  tones  and  brilliant  hues  are  reminiscent  of  the  earlier  Gothic  interiors, 
despite  the  fact  that  here  both  the  focus  and  intent  are  quite  different. 

Kupka  did  three  paintings  on  this  theme,  of  which  the  first  and  third  are 
exhibited  here.  The  second  is  in  a  New  York  private  collection. 


1  Another  painting  of  1912-23,  called 
La  Montee  (Rising)  (fig.),  is  related 
to  this  series  and  particularly  to 
Upward  Thrust  1  with  which  it  shares 
the  same  rounded  columnar  forms.  The 
explanation  for  this  painting,  as  given 
by  Eugenie  Kupka,  was  that  it  was 
inspired  by  glasses  of  fruit  preserves 
set  in  the  sun.  The  original  title  for  the 
painting  as  it  was  shown  in  Prague  in 
1946  was  The  Fermentation  of  ]am 
(Prague,  1946,  cat.  no.  74;  see  Fedit's 
discussion,  cat.  no.  73,  p.  9r). 


Kupka,  Rising,  1923,  oil,  Royal  S.  Marks 
Gallery,  New  York. 


240 


* 


* 

4 


"-4^ 


140     Upward  Thrust  HI  (Le  Jaillisse- 
ment  111).  1922-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  43%  x  35V2" 
(110x90  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  168,  repr.  p.  125 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P. 
Fuller 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 
Margit  Chanin,  Ltd. 
to  present  owner,  1968 


EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  26 
(as  Jaillissetnent,  either  present 
work  or  another  of  series) 

*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  120 

Turin,  1953,  repr. 

Vienna,  1962,  no.  112,  repr. 

::'Paris,  1964,  Louis  Carre,  no.  14 
(dated  1925) 

Lisbon,  1965,  no.  72,  repr.  color 


142 


41     Diagonal  Planes  I  (Plans  diago- 
nanxl).  c.  1923 

Oil  on  canvas,  31%  x  25%" 
(81  x  65  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  175,  repr.  p.  138 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O3829) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

''Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  62 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  121 

*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 
no.  19 

*Ust!  nad  Orlici,  1965,  no.  9 
London,  1967,  no.  80  (as 
Horizontal  Planes  1) 
Brussels-Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  80 
'Prague,  1968,  no.  71,  repr. 


&  P 


The  Prague  1968  catalogue  (cat.  no.  71)  indicates  that  this  painting  was  exhibited 
at  la  Boetie  in  1924,  as  cat.  no.  21:  Plans  verticanx  et  diagonaux  (reminiscences 
hivernales).  In  view  of  the  austerity  of  this  picture  and  a  complete  absence  of  the 
motifs  which  characterize  the  Winter  Reminiscences  series  (see  cat.  nos.  143-144), 
this  appears  implausible. 


143 


142 


Forms  and  Structures  of  Colors 
(Formes  et  structures  de  couleurs). 
1920-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  23  x  32" 
(58.4  x  81.2  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Gribin 

PROVENANCE: 

early  history  unknown 

Gertrude  Stein  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

~Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  50-56  (one 

of  these) 
'Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  42 

(as  Langage  vertical  [fond  rouge]) 
Riverside,  Art  Gallery,  University  of 
California,  April  25-May  25, 1971, 
The  Cubist  Circle,  no.  1 2,  repr. 


1  Reproduced  with  this  title  in  Leon 
Plee,  "Francois  Kupka,  Le  Peintre  des 
'Idees-lumieres',"  Les  Annales,  Novem- 
ber 16, 1924.  Private  notes  by  the 
painter  Gallien  concerning  the  1924 
retrospective  indicate  that  the  painting 
was  called  Le  Langage  des  verticales. 
This  title  does  not  appear  in  the  la 
Boetie  catalogue,  and  may  be  Gallien's 
title  for  the  picture,  given  its 
resemblance  to  that  series.  (Notes 
courtesy  Gallien  family.) 


The  groupings  of  verticals  in  this  painting  obviously  derive  from  The  Language  of 
Verticals  theme  (see  cat.  nos.  67  and  131;  also  Vachtova,  cat.  no.  157,  repr.  p.  122). 
Kupka  appears  to  have  reverted  to  this  theme  in  an  attempt  to  redefine  his  abstract 
vocabulary  and  emphasize  the  two-dimensionality  of  the  picture  plane.  Although 
the  format  and  imagery  do  not  appear  again  in  exactly  this  form,  many  of  the 
motifs  seen  here  re-emerge  in  contemporaneous  pictures  in  somewhat  more  elab- 
orate rendering  (see  cat.  nos.  143, 144). 

Between  1919  and  1923,  Kupka  painted  a  series  of  works  on  the  form  and  struc- 
ture of  colors,  illustrating  his  belief  that  every  color  dictates  its  own  ideal  form  (see 
discussion,  cat.  no.  168).  Although  the  present  painting  is  very  different  from  those 
in  the  series,  it  seems  to  have  borne  this  title  when  exhibited  in  1924. * 

Kupka  did  several  small  abstract  paintings  on  oval  stretchers  of  which  the  earliest 
date  from  about  this  time.  Most  of  them  were  decorative,  in  shades  of  yellow  and 
purple,  and  were  conceived  for  Eugenie  Kupka's  bedroom.  Presumably  these  in- 
spired him  to  work  in  an  oval  format.  Afterwards,  in  the  1930s  and  1940s,  and 
again  in  the  1950s,  he  experimented  only  occasionally  with  small  oval  formats. 


244 


2-45 


143     Reminiscence  of  a  Cathedral  or 
Winter  Reminiscences  (Remini- 
scence d'une  cathedrale  ou  Remi- 
niscences hivernales).  1920-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  59  x  37" 
(149.8  x  94  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka;"  inscribed  11 
"reminiscence" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph 
Randall  Shapiro 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Richard  L.  Feigen,  Inc.,  Chicago, 

c.  1957 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

'Taris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  18-21  (one 

of  these) 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  69  (dated 

1920) 
Paris,  1950,  Salon  des  Realites  Nai- 
veties, no.  300  (as  Reminiscence, 
dated  1913-20) 

:;"New  York,  1953,  Rose  Fried,  no.  2 
Chicago,  Museum  of  Contemporary 
Art,  December  20, 1969-February  1, 
1970,  Selections  from  the  Joseph 
Randall  Shapiro  Collection,  no.  39, 
repr. 


In  the  1924  la  Boetie  exhibition,  four  paintings  were  exhibited  with  the  title  Plans 
verticanx  et  diagonaux  (reminiscences  hivernales)  (cat.  nos.  18-21).  Since  many  of 
Kupka's  titles  have  changed  since  that  time,  it  is  difficult  to  identify  the  correspond- 
ing pictures  exactly,  except  from  the  one  existing  installation  photograph.  It  is 
thought  however  that  this  painting  was  among  them. 

This  work  was  probably  painted  between  1920  and  1923.  It  shows  the  vertical 
thrust  seen  in  slightly  earlier  works  now  congealing  into  an  architecture.  The  soft 
floating  forms  on  the  frontal  plane  on  the  left  evoke  snow  flurries,  whereas  the 
background  lozenge  motifs  call  to  mind  leaded  glass.  The  two  titles  which 
Kupka  used  for  this  painting— referring  to  winter  and  the  cathedral  — are  therefore 
comprehensible. 

The  braided  motif  in  the  lower  left  and  the  fluted  pianes  at  the  right  edge  were 
seen  in  Forms  and  Structures  of  Colors  (cat.  no.  142).  The  tentative  cloudlike  forms 
on  the  right,  subsequently  abandoned,  and  the  contradictions  of  palette— the  cen- 
tral panel  is  executed  in  mixed  muted  tones,  the  sides  in  primaries  and  white— sug- 
gest that  the  painting  is  an  early  variation  on  this  theme. 


246 


^47 


'  1 144     Vertical  and  Diagonal  Planes; 
Winter  Reminiscences  (Plans 
verticaux  et  diagonaux;  remini- 
scences hivernales).  1920-23 

Oil  on  canvas,  70%  x  59%" 
(180  x  150  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  173,  repr.  p.  126, 
color  pi.  IX 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O  2068) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Jindrich  Waldes 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

::'Paris,  1921,  Povolozky,  cat.  no.  26 
or  27 

''Paris,  1924,  laBoetie,  no.  18-21  (one 

of  these) 
*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  116  (dated 

1913-29) 
*Prague,  1968,  no.  61,  repr. 

1  See  p.  230,  fn.  5  for  complete  reference. 
Present  quote,  p.  677. 


The  larger  format,  brighter  palette  and  more  distinctly  determined  forms  suggest 
that  this  painting  followed  cat.  no.  143.  The  snowflake  motifs  are  again  visible,  ex- 
tended in  vertical  chains  across  the  surface  of  the  canvas.  And  the  background  is  a 
complex  pattern  of  transparent  lozenges,  evoking  panes  of  glass.  Curiously,  despite 
the  success  of  Forms  and  Structures  of  Colors  in  establishing  a  two-dimensional 
continuum,  here  Kupka  reverts  to  a  push-pull  relationship  between  surface  plane 
and  background,  such  as  that  in  paintings  executed  as  early  as  1909-n  (see  cat. 
nos.  39,  66,  68).  The  analogy  with  Piano  Keys-Lake  (cat.  no.  39)  is  particularly  rel- 
evant in  that  the  lower  area  of  the  present  painting  is  distinctly  reminiscent  of  the 
inside  of  a  piano. 

Arnould-Gremilly,  in  his  speech  at  the  Galerie  Povolozky  in  1921,  described  the 
myriad  experiences  evoked  by  Kupka's  paintings,  among  them  the  sound  of  organ 
music:  ".  .  .  the  chill  of  abstraction  can  fall  on  you  like  vertical  planes,  like  the  pipes 
of  a  silver  organ  within  the  somber  sulkiness  of  a  wood-paneled  room."1  Most  of 
Arnould-Gremilly's  remarks  referred  to  paintings  in  the  exhibition.  The  Povolozky 
catalogue  lists  two  paintings:  Verticales  et  diagonales;  reminiscences  (Povolozky 
cat.  nos.  26-27).  One  is  tempted  to  conjecture  that  the  present  painting  in  an  earlier 
state,  or  one  close  to  it,  was  shown  in  1921. 

Small  drawings  in  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art  Study  Collection  show  the  in- 
tricately carved  posts  of  a  Gothic  choir,  creating  a  complex  knobbed  vertical 
pattern.  A  1913  oil  study  (fig.)  shows  a  tree  (or  trees)  laden  with  snow.  All  of  these 
studies  obviously  contributed  to  Kupka's  elaborate  vision  in  which  winter  and 
the  cathedral  are  combined. 


Kupka,  Study  for  Winter  Reminiscences, 
c.  1913,  oil,  Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
M.  A.  Gribin. 


248 


M9 


145     Untitled;  Decorative  Panel  (?) 
(Pannean  decoratif?).  1921-Z4 

Oil  on  canvas,  40  x  29 
(101.6x73.6  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Stephen  Mazoh  &  Co., 

Inc. 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Felix  Del  Marie 

Lucy  Delmarle 

James  St.  L.  O'Toole 

Gertrude  Stein  Gallery,  New  York 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  Richard  Miller, 

New  York 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  42  or  43, 
probably  43  (installation 
photograph) 

*New  York,  1968,  Spencer  A. 
Samuels,  no.  36 

San  Diego-Oakland-Seattle,  1971, 

no.  47,  repr.  color 


Untitled  is  obviously  related  to  the  Reminiscence  series.  The  more  compact  central 
structure,  flat  integrated  forms,  controlled  palette  and  stippled  impasto  technique 
point  to  a  later  date  than  the  pictures  reviewed  thus  far.  It  was  exhibited  at  la  Boetie 
in  its  present  state  in  1924;  one  would  be  tempted  to  identify  it  as  cat.  no.  43:  Pan- 
neau  decoratif  (a  deux  plans),  dated  (approximatively)  1921-23. 

Earlier  motifs  from  nature  (snow  flurries,  clouds)  are  here  transformed  into  flat 
decorative  panels.  The  architectonic  central  image  and  the  panels  themselves  evoke 
the  modern  cathedral  or  skyscraper  rather  than  the  cathedral  of  medieval  times. 
Although  one  cannot  speak  of  skyscrapers  in  Paris,  the  small  figured  moldings  on 
the  left  imitate  the  relief  panels  beginning  to  appear  on  modern  Parisian  facades 
(Auguste  Perret's  1913  Theatre  des  Champs-Elysees,  for  example). 

Kupka's  interest  in  modern  architecture  can  only  be  conjectured.  Yet  in  view  of 
his  unbounded  curiosity  concerning  his  environment,  his  interest  in  all  other  pe- 
riods of  architecture  and  his  preoccupation  with  modernity— its  science  and  tech- 
niques—this conjecture  does  not  seem  unfounded.  By  1923,  he  was  teaching  Czech 
scholarship  students  in  Paris;  some  young  architects  were  among  them.  Many 
sketches  based  on  building  facades  are  in  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art  Study  Col- 
lection. Visibly  they  are  the  source  of  many  of  his  vertical  and  diagonal  plane 
compositions,  both  earlier  and  later  than  this  one.  For  Kupka,  the  vertical  plane 
was  fundamentally  architectural,  either  in  real  or  visionary  terms. 


250 


*5i 


146     Lines,  Planes,  Spaces  or  Attempt 
at  Depth  (Traits,  plans,  espaces  or 
Essai  pour  le  profondeur). 
1913-Z2. 

Oil  on  canvas,  31%  x  25%" 
(80.5  x  65  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITION: 

*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  137  (as 
Pokus  o  hloubku  I  [Attempt  at 
Depth]  1913-22) 


According  to  Fedit,  the  first  studies  on  this  theme  were  done  as  early  as  1913,  and 
this  painting,  although  reworked  later,  was  started  at  that  time.  One  can  indeed  see 
analogies  with  Amorpha,  Fugue  of  191 2:  in  the  predominantly  red  and  blue  palette, 
the  fluid  elliptical  shapes  and  the  idea  of  interlocking  abstract  patterns  of  pure  color 
or  pure  sound.  However,  in  contrast  to  Amorpha,  Fugue,  in  which  the  visual  am- 
biguity and  revolutionary  character  derive  from  the  painting's  radical  flatness,  this 
picture  shows  a  complex  interplay  between  surface  and  depth.  Kupka's  pictorial 
goals  are  confirmed  by  the  title  he  gave  this  painting  in  1946:  Attempt  at  Depth. 

A  passage  from  Kupka's  1912-13  manuscript  decribes  an  image  which  is  strik- 
ingly close  to  the  configurations  seen  here,  although  the  analogy  may  be  purely 
coincidental.  In  discussing  the  effect  of  red  on  blue,  a  combination  Kupka  favored, 
he  said:  "Have  you  never  stopped  to  observe  the  horses  which  pull  the  wagons  full 
of  building  materials?  One  can  see  a  thin  line  of  carmine  red  on  their  ultramarine 
blue  collars.  This  thread  of  color  is  enough  to  make  the  blue  vibrate  with  purple."1 


1  Manuscript  II,  p.  19. 


252 


^53 


147     Lines,  Planes,  Spaces  III  (Traits, 
plans,  espaces  111),  c.  192.3  [re- 
worked 1934] 

Oil  on  canvas,  70%  x  50%" 
(180  x  128  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  99,  repr. 

Vachtova,  no.  230,  repr.  p.  176 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4183-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1924,  la  Boetie,  no.  41  (first 
version,  dated  1921,  as  Formes  en 
repoussoir) 

Lille,  1925,  no.  2  (as  Traits,  plans, 

clarte) 

'Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  35 

'Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  136  (dated 
1913-22) 

Paris,  1949,  Salon  des  Realites  Nou- 

velles,  no.  283 

*Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realites  Nou- 

velles,  no.  XL VI 
''New  York,  1953,  Rose  Fried,  no.  7 

(dated  1913) 
'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  43,  pi.  XVI 
'Cologne,  1967,  no.  34,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  34,  repr.; 

Amsterdam,  1968,  no.  70;  Prague, 

1968,  no.  87,  repr. 
Strasbourg,  1972,  no.  62,  fig.  19 


1  According  to  Fedit  (in  conversation 
with  the  author),  "destroyed"  means 
sanded  down. 

2  See  Fedit,  p.  in,  for  photograph  of 
original  version. 


On  February  12,  1934,  Eugenie  Kupka  wrote  to  Waldes,  saying  that  over  the  past 
three  days  Kupka  had  "destroyed"  this  painting  "begun  in  1923. "'  A  small  canvas 
(cat.  no.  146)  which  had  served  as  a  study  remained.  However  before  the  end  of  the 
month  Kupka  had  reworked  the  painting  and  given  it  its  present  fotm. 

The  initial  state  of  this  painting  showed  a  more  intricate  pattern  of  loops  recoil- 
ing into  space  similar  to  those  seen  in  cat.  no.  146.2  In  that  state,  the  painting  was 
exhibited  at  la  Boetie  as  Formes  en  repoussoir,  1921  (Forms  against  a  Foil).  The 
present  rendering  is  more  open,  more  loosely  articulated  and  more  two-dimen- 
sional. The  infinite  arabesques  meandering  into  undetermined  depth  are  trans- 
formed into  curved  and  severed  abstract  planes. 


2-54 


=■55 


148     Moving  Blues  (II?)  (Bleus  mou- 
vants  [II?]).  1923-24 

Oil  on  canvas,  43%  x  42V2" 
(no  x  108  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  93,  repr. 

Vachtova,  no.  254,  repr.  p.  310 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4186-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  154  (dated 

1923) 
"Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realties  Nou- 

velles  (hors  catalogue) 
Lille,  1956 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  31,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  31,  repr.; 

Vienna,  1967,  no.  37;  Amsterdam, 

1968,  no.  61,  repr.;  Prague,  1968, 

no.  85,  repr. 


1  As  proposed  by  Vachtova,  p.  190.  The 
illustration  is  the  cul  de  lampe  for  Vol. 
I,  Book  I,  Chapter  VI,  "Divisions  and 
Rhythm  of  History,"  published  in 
1905.  Thus  Vachtova's  1907  date  is 
incorrect.  See  fig.  za,  p.  42  here. 

2  Volume  I,  Book  II,  Chapter  III, 
"Potamia,"  p.  530. 


Three  variations  on  this  theme  exist  today.  A  fourth,  probably  the  first  version  (de- 
stroyed by  the  artist)  was  exhibited  at  la  Boetie  in  1924  as  Bleus  mouvants  (reminis- 
cence d'Esterel)  1922-24,  cat.  no.  47.  The  subtitle  provides  a  key  to  the  iconography 
of  the  series,  Esterel  being  a  seaside  resort  on  the  Riviera.  As  Fedit  points  out, 
Kupka  was  attempting  to  depict  the  universal  cosmic  rhythm  which  rules  the  tides 
and  the  constellations  in  this  image,  where  waves  and  sky  meet  in  two  distinctive 
arabesques. 

An  illustration  from  L'Homme  et  la  terre  in  which  one  sees  bodies  borne  by 
waves  in  a  rhythmic  flow  may  have  been  a  distant  source  for  this  series.1  A  typically 
Art  Nouveau  interpretation,  this  type  of  imagery  is  found  not  only  in  Klimt  [Fishes 
Blood,  as  Vachtova  notes)  but  in  a  1902  picture  by  the  Czech  artist  Svabinsky 
(Rodin's  Inspiration)  which  shows  intertwined  figures  floating  in  the  sky. 

If  one  looks  back  as  far  as  L'Homme  et  la  terre,  a  book  which  marked  Kupka's 
thinking  decisively,  another  of  its  pictures  may  have  engendered  Kupka's  pictorial 
idea.  A  diagram  with  the  inscription  "How  men  of  antiquity  understood  the  world" 
shows  two  vaulted  forms,  one  above  the  other,  labeled  respectively  "the  starry 
vault"  and  "the  earth."  These  two  shapes  are  surrounded  by  emblematic  waves 
which  signify  "the  celestial  ocean"  and  "the  inferior  ocean:  chaos."2 

The  third  version  (cat.  no.  149),  according  to  Vachotva  (p.  279),  was  reworked 
between  1928  and  1936.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  it  was  done  earlier  or  later 
than  this  painting.  When  exhibited  in  Kupka's  1936  retrospective,  the  artist  dated 
it  1923,  which  seems  a  bit  early  in  view  of  the  la  Boetie  dates  which  presumably 
would  be  more  exact.  The  artist  dated  the  present  painting  1923  (Prague,  1946) 
and  1923-24  on  his  personal  label  on  the  back. 


256 


2-57 


149      Moving  Blues  (Bleus  mouvants). 
1923;  reworked  192.8-36 

Oil  on  canvas,  46V2  x  44ys" 
(118  x  112  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  255,  color  pi.  XXI 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O5943) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Prague  Castle 

to  present  owner,  1951 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  39, 

repr. 
*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  153  (dated 

1923) 
''Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  49 
*Prague,  1965,  no.  9  (dated  1922-36) 
::"Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  75,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  75,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  35;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 

60,  repr.;  Prague,  1968,  no.  84,  repr. 
Stockholm-Goteborg,  1973,  no.  96 
(dated  1922-36) 


158 


159 


150     Moving  Blues  (Bleus  mouvants). 
c.  1925-2.7 

Oil  on  canvas,  44V2  x  44V2" 
(113  x  113  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  11  "Kupka//33" 

Vachtova,  cat.  no.  256  (incorrect 
entry),  repr.  p.  193 

Collection  P.  P.,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  34 

(as  Plans  en  mouvement) 
Paris,  1949,  Salon  des  Realties  Nou- 
velles,  no.  284,  (as  Bleus  par  plans) 
'Taris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realties 

Nouvelles 
"Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  64, 
pi.  XXIII 


In  this  late  version  of  Moving  Blues— the  last  of  the  series  and  probably  painted  c. 
1925-27  despite  the  fact  that  it  is  dated  1933  on  the  canvas— the  upper  and  lower 
arabesques  are  virtually  identical  in  formal  structure.  This  is  in  keeping  with 
Kupka's  theory  of  the  unique  cosmic  rhythm  that  regulates  both  stars  and  oceans. 
It  is  also  consistent  with  his  more  purely  philosophical  belief  that  what  is  above  is 
also  below  (see  cat.  no.  $6). 

In  his  1910-n  notebook  he  wrote  (in  Greek  and  then  in  German):  "Table  of 
Memphis:  Heaven  above  heaven  below//Stars  above  stars  below/ /Everything 
above  is  also  below/ /Accept  it  thus  and  be  content."1 


1  Manuscript  I,  p.  19. 


260 


z6i 


151     Equation  of  Moving  Blues  (Equa- 
tion des  bleus  en  mouvement). 
1929-31 

Oil  on  canvas,  35V2  x  35V2" 
(90  x  90  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  282,  repr.  p.  209 

Collection  P.  P.,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

""Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  65 

(as  Equation  des  bleus  mouvants, 

dated  1929) 
*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  155  (dated 

1929) 
Sao  Paulo-Buenos  Aires,  1949,  no.  47 
(as  Equacao  de  pianos  mouventes 
HI),  repr.  14 

Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realites 
Nouvelles 
*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  62  (as 

Equation  des  plans  mouvants  III, 

dated  1931) 


This  painting  shows  a  more  abstract  interpretation  of  the  theme  illustrated  in  Mov- 
ing Blues  (cat.  nos.  148-150).  The  arithmetic  terminology  in  the  title  and  the  geo- 
metric forms  suggest  that  Kupka  was  referring  to  Plato's  cosmology  as  presented 
in  the  Timoeus.1  According  to  Plato,  arithmetic  and  geometric  terms  are  the  mean 
between  the  phenomenon  and  the  idea,  or  a  way  of  translating  the  undifferentiated 
mass  of  the  material  world  into  the  realm  of  ideas.  Furthermore,  within  this  system, 
each  element  of  the  world  corresponds  to  a  precise  geometric  figure  which  is  a  tri- 
angle. In  the  present  painting,  Kupka's  earlier  emblematic  imagery  is  translated  into 
an  equation  of  geometric  figures. 

Kupka  dated  this  painting  1929  for  his  1946  exhibition.  It  was  reproduced  in 
Abstraction-Creation,  no.  1,  1932,  p.  23,  dated  1931.  Its  obvious  derivation  from 
Moving  Blues  of  1925-27  (cat.  no.  150),  yet  its  more  systematic  and  visible  brush- 
work  which  forecasts  that  seen  in  Untitled,  1931  (cat.  no.  169),  obviously  a  more 
advanced  variation  on  the  same  theme,  makes  it  difficult  to  date  this  picture 
precisely. 


1  Apparently  Timoeus  and  Philebus  were 
Kupka's  favorite  Platonic  writings. 


262 


i63 


152     Study  for  Around  a  Point.  (Etude 
pour  Autour  d'un  -point)  .1911-12 

Gouache,  watercolor  and  pencil  on 
paper,  7V2  x  8V2"  (19  x  21.6  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


153     Study  for  Around  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autour  d'un  point),  c.  19 19 

Gouache,  watercolor  and  pencil  on 
paper,  8  x  9"  (20.3  x  22.9  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


264 


154     Study  for  Around  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autour  d'un  Point).  1920-25 

Gouache  and  pencil  on  paper, 
7%  x  8"  (19.7  x  zo.3  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


155     Study  for  Around  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autour  d'un  point).  1920-25 

Gouache  on  paper,  14V2  x  x6xA" 
(36.8  X41.3  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


POT  ,'jF 


265 


156     Study  for  Aroun d  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autonr  d'un  point).  1920-25 

Pencil  on  paper,  5%  x  5V6" 
(15  x  13  cm.) 

Stamped  11  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  109,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  2.718-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


¥* 


157     Study  for  Around  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autonr  d'un  point).  1920-25 

Pencil  on  paper,  j%  x  j%" 
(19.7x19.7  cm.) 

Stamped  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Theodoros  Stamos 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Estate  of  the  artist 

Karl  Flinker 

Spencer  A.  Samuels  and  Company, 

Ltd. 

to  present  owner 


3^^oe*^» 


266 


158     Study  for  Around  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autour  d'un  point).  1920-25 

Gouache  on  paper,  16%  x  17V2" 
(42.9x44.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


159     Study  for  Around  a  Point  (Etude 
pour  Autour  d'un  point).  1920-25 

Gouache  and  gray  chalk  on  light  gray 
paper:  mat  window,  14  x  14%" 
(35.6x37.5  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


267 


160     Around  a  Point  (Autourd'un 
point),  c.  1925-30;  reworked  c. 
1934 

Oil  on  canvas,  j6Ys  x  78%" 
(194  x  200  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i  1-30;" 
inscribed  11  "autour//d'un  point" 

Fedit,  no.  in,  repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  321 3-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

purchased  by  the  French  government, 

1947 

to  present  owner,  transferred,  1953 

EXHIBITIONS: 

''Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  36 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  135 
*Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realties  Nou- 

velles,  unnumbered 
Saint  Etienne,  1957,  no.  19,  fig.  8 
London,  1957,  no.  73 
*Paris,  MNAM,  no.  1 3,  pi.  VI 
"Cologne,  1967,  no.  40,  repr.; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  40,  repr.; 
Vienna,  1967,  no.  17,  repr.;  Amster- 
dam, 1968,  no.  80,  repr.  black  and 
white,  color;  Prague,  1968,  no.  88, 
repr.  (upside  down) 


Kupka  dated  this  painting  1911-30  because  the  first  tentative  studies  on  the  theme 
dated  from  c.  1911-12.  Most  of  the  final  studies  and  the  painting  itself  were  ex- 
ecuted in  1920-30.  Curiously,  although  Kupka  did  literally  dozens  of  studies  on 
paper  on  this  theme,  no  other  canvases  are  recorded. 

The  earliest  studies  show  the  genesis  of  the  idea:  a  mixture  of  the  lotus  flower 
(with  its  symbolism  of  mystical  evolution;  see  cat.  no.  4),  cosmic  space,  and  the 
Disks  of  Newton  (cat.  nos.  73,  75).  As  the  image  evolved,  it  became  increasingly 
legible  as  the  unfurled  petals  of  a  flower.  Thus  symbolic,  cosmic  and  biological 
significance  are  combined. 

In  the  present  painting  these  three  dimensions  are  sublimated  into  a  supremely 
abstract  pictorial  idea.  The  centrifugal/centripetal  spiraling  motion  is  of  course  one 
of  Kupka's  central  themes. 

According  to  Fedit,  a  first  state  was  probably  achieved  c.  1927  (see  fig.  12,  p. 
314),  and  was  reworked  c.  1934.  This  reworking,  similar  to  that  carried  out  on  cat. 
no.  147  (and  even  cat.  no.  146  at  an  unknown  date),  consisted  of  painting  out  many 
of  the  original  colored  motifs  with  white  and  opening  up  the  composition. 


168 


l£>9 


161     Planes  by  Curves  (Plans  par 
courbes).  c.  1926 

Oil  on  canvas,  33V8  x  35%" 
(84  X91  cm.) 

Signed  Ir  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  306,  repr.  p.  2.30 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1958,  Salon  des  Comparaisons, 

no.  204 

'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  55,  pi.  XIX 


The  flat  curved  planes  in  this  composition  and  in  cat.  no.  162  evolved  from  a  group 
of  pictures  of  1919-22  (see  discussion  cat.  no.  134).  Vachtova  identifies  this  canvas 
as  Curved  Planes  II  and  dates  it  1926-32.  Because  the  title  may  have  changed  since 
the  work  was  executed,  and  much  of  the  surface  has  been  repainted,  it  is  difficult  to 
document  these  dates  exactly.  However  the  evenly  shifting  curving  planes  (seen  in 
both  versions  of  Around  a  Point)  situate  this  work  at  around  that  time. 


270 


i6z     Planes  by  Curves  (Plans  par 
courbes).  c.  1926-30 

Oil  on  canvas,  26%  x  26% " 
(68  x  68  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner 


A  watercolor  for  this  painting  exists  in  the  collection  of  the  Musee  National  a" Art 
Moderne,  Paris  (Fedit,  cat.  no.  103,  p.  115).  In  her  discussion  of  the  study,  Fedit 
identifies  the  present  picture  as  Planes  by  Curves  11  and  dates  it  c.  1926.  This  is 
plausible  but  hard  to  document.  Whether  this  painting  or  cat.  no.  161  is  really 
Planes  by  Curves  11  remains  to  be  established.  However  this  picture  appears  to  have 
been  conceived  and  executed  later  than  cat.  no.  161  in  that  the  central  imagery  is 
more  autonomous  and  clearly  defined,  and  less  dependent  on  earlier  themes  and 
motifs.  Furthermore,  the  horizontal-vertical  framework  of  the  composition  and  the 
predominantly  blue  ground  with  an  accent  of  red  relate  this  painting  to  The  Form 
of  Blue,  1930-31  (cat.no.  168). 


*•• 


'-71 


163     Arabesque  11  (Arabesque  II). 
1925-2.6 

Oil  on  canvas,  39%  x  31 7/s" 
(100  x  81  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Collection  Margit  Chanin,  Ltd. 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

''Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  124  (as 

Arabesque  II,  dated  1925-26) 
Sao  Paulo-Buenos  Aires,  1949,  no.  45 
(dated  1925) 
Vienna,  1953  (cat.  not  located) 


The  arabesque  was  a  motif  which  intrigued  Kupka  from  a  very  early  date.  He  re- 
ferred to  it  often  in  his  written  texts,  expressing  his  admiration  for  Islamic  orna- 
ment. This  formal  idiom  wrhich  does  not  copy  nature,  said  Kupka,  "appears  to  us 
as  a  harmony  of  pure  forms  of  noble  distinction;  it  is  a  world  superior  to  our  own. 
There  is  more  there  than  just  a  simple  arabesque.  There  is  much  intelligence  [esprit], 
an  intelligence  which  sings  eurythmy  in  its  distribution  of  formal  components."1 

An  unpublished  text  of  c.  19 19,  in  which  Kupka  discussed  the  illustrations  for 
The  Song  of  Roland,2  includes  a  long  passage  on  the  arabesque.  Here  Kupka  refers 
to  the  eighth  to  eleventh  century  illuminated  manuscripts  he  studied  in  preparation 
for  his  book:  Celtic,  Carolingian,  Mozarabic,  French  and  Spanish  Romanesque, 
and  describes  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  each.  The  reader  feels  that  he  would 
have  preferred  to  do  abstract  motifs  for  this  early  medieval  text  than  the  academic 
illustrations  required  of  him. 

In  1925-26,  Kupka  did  a  series  of  paintings  on  the  arabesque  theme:  Arabesque 
I,  II,  III;  Closed  Motif,  Verticals  and  Diagonals  in  Green  (MNAM,  Paris).  He  also 
used  this  motif  in  the  fourth  section  of  his  album  of  woodcuts  devoted  to  vertical 
and  diagonal  planes  (see  cat.  no.  165). 


1  Manuscript  IV,  Chapter  I,  p.  15. 

2  Executed  1917-18.  Text  courtesy  of 
Andree  Martinel-Kupka. 


272 


^73 


164     Energetics  II  (Energiques  II).  1926 

Oil  on  mattress  ticking,  33%  x  55W 
(85  x  140  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  269,  color  pi.  XXIII 

Collection  Narodm  Galerie,  Prague 
(O3823) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1926,  Salon  des  Independants, 
no.  1954 

::"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  68 
''Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  108 
-'Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  52 

"Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 
no.  20,  repr. 

"Cologne,  1967,  no.  76,  repr.; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  76,  repr.; 
Vienna,  1967,  no.  44,  repr.;  Amster- 
dam, 1968,  no.  71,  repr.;  Prague, 
1968,  no.  83,  repr. 

Stockholm— Goteborg,  1973,  no.  98 


The  dulled  palette,  impastoed  surface  and  jagged  forms  in  this  picture  are  char- 
acteristic of  a  small  series  of  paintings  and  many  studies  on  paper  which  Kupka  ex- 
ecuted in  c.  1926.  The  series  included  Energetics  I  (Vachtova,  cat.  no.  268)  Energetic 
on  Violet  (MNAM,  Paris). 

Both  the  dynamic  deployment  of  energy  seen  in  these  autonomous  lines  and 
forms  and  the  horizontal  format  echo  Solo  of  a  Brown  Line  of  1912-13  (cat.  no. 
108).  The  interlacing  of  lines  and  planes  evokes  the  idea  of  a  fugue.  Kupka  may 
have  been  thinking  in  musical  terms;  a  photograph  found  among  his  personal 
papers  shows  a  1925  painting,  Orgue  sur  fond  vert  (Organ  on  a  Green  Ground), 
which  seems  to  be  transitional  between  the  Arabesque  subjects  and  the  Energetics. 

One  of  the  four  themes  of  Kupka's  1926  album  of  woodcuts  was  based  on  these 
dynamic  and  asymmetrical  motifs. 


274 


2-75 


165     Four  Stories  in  Black  and  White 
(Quatre  histoires  de  blanc  et  noir). 
Paris,  1926 

Portfolio  of  26  woodcuts 

Sheet:  13^x9%"  (33.3  X25.1  cm.); 
Block:  8  x  6Vs"  (20.3  x  15.5  cm.) 

No.  149  of  limited  edition  of  300 

Pages  4,  11,17,23 

Private  Collection 


As  the  title  suggests,  this  album  of  woodcuts  is  based  on  four  formal  themes  which 
can  be  freely  described  as  the  following  (in  order): 

1)  Organic/decorative 

2)  Angular 

3)  Undulating/cosmic 

4)  Vertical  and  diagonal  planes 

Almost  all  these  themes  and  variations  are  found  in  Kupka's  paintings  throughout 
the  decade  of  the  twenties. 


276 


Each  theme  was  illustrated  in  six  variations.  One  of  each  series  is  shown  here.  The 
album  included  a  title  page  and  a  written  introduction  by  Kupka  in  which  he  ex- 
plained the  independent  life  and  significance  of  abstract  formal  motifs.  This  book, 
far  removed  in  time  from  the  artist's  pre-1900  Central  European  training  (see  pp. 
17-23  here),  nonetheless  shows  its  enduring  imprint. 


177 


1 66     Drinking  Steel  (L'Acier  boit). 
1927-30 

Oil  on  canvas,  17%  x  20%" 
(45  x  53  cm.) 
Signed  lr  "Kupka" 
Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 

EXHIBITION: 

"Paris,  i960,  Karl  Flinker,  repr.  color 


Between  1927  and  1930,  Kupka  suffered  a  period  of  crisis  in  his  art.  Aside  from  his 
ill  health  which  is  abundantly  noted  in  the  correspondence  between  Eugenie  Kupka 
and  lea  Waldes,  the  critical  failure  and  financial  disaster  of  his  1926  woodcut  album 
may  have  contributed  to  his  acute  anxiety.  The  fact  that  he  did  not  exhibit  at  the 
Salon  des  Independents  between  1926  and  1933  offers  further  evidence  of  his 
disarray. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Kupka  began  a  series  of  pictures  on  the  subject  of 
machines.  Apparently  he  looked  toward  the  world  of  machines  to  enrich  his  formal 
vocabulary.  The  contrast  of  circular  and  rectilinear  elements  emphasized  in  the 
machine  paintings  will  be  found,  distilled  into  pure  abstract  components,  in  many 
paintings  of  the  1930s. 

Despite  the  fact  that  many  of  the  machine  pictures  are  quite  successful  in  terms 
of  formal  composition,  Kupka  seems  to  have  considered  them  marginal  and  chose 
not  to  include  them  in  exhibitions  of  his  work. 

There  are  three  virtually  identical  paintings  of  Drinking  Steel.  The  other  two  are 
in  the  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague,  and  the  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne,  Paris. 


278 


,\i6j     Machines.  1929-3Z 


Oil  on  canvas,  41%  x  47.%" 

(106  x  108.5  cm-) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  z88,  color  pi.  XXV 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O  2265) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

JindrichWaldes 

to  present  owner,  1940 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

25,  repr. 
"Prague,  1968,  no.  95,  repr. 
"Belgrade,  1969,  no.  18,  repr. 


"-79 


1 68     Untitled;  The  Form  of  Blue  (?)  (La 
Forme  du  bleu  [?]).  1929-31 

Oil  on  canvas,  26%  x  26%" 
(68x68  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Rose  Fried  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1929  (as  La  Forme  du  bleu)? 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  164  (as 

[The  Form  of  Blue],  1951, 

70  x  70  cm.)? 
*New  York,  1953,  Rose  Fried,  no. 

9  or  10 
"New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  6  or  7 
London-Austin,  1973,  no.  73,  repr. 

1  Manuscript  II,  pp.  19-20. 


For  Kupka,  the  physiological  properties  of  color  (number,  length,  speed  of  wave 
lengths)  dictate  an  ideal  shape.  The  ideal  form  for  red  is  round,  orange  is  oval, 
green  is  undulating,  etc.  Although  individual  paintings  illustrating  these  ideas  were 
executed  starting  in  1919-23,  the  theory  was  formulated  prior  to  World  War  I. 

The  ideal  form  of  blue  is  vertical  and  rectilinear:  "Blue,  like  its  closest  neighbors 
on  the  spectrum,  because  it  seems  to  recede  in  space,  or  at  least  draw  back  into 
itself,  should  be  motivated  or  enclosed  by  tapered,  rectilinear  forms.1 

Most  of  the  paintings  called  The  Form  of  Blue  (NG,  Prague;  Collection  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller,  New  York),  remain  strictly  within  the  range  of  the  blue 
palette  and  are  rendered  in  a  hatched  almost  woven  impasto,  in  which  the  direction 
of  the  brushstrokes  seems  to  duplicate  the  color's  wave  lengths  as  Kupka  under- 
stood them.  The  present  painting  appears  to  be  a  later  version:  the  surface  texture 
is  more  even;  the  brushstroke  relatively  invisible.  The  red  line  pushes  the  blues 
toward  violet,  just  as  in  Family  Portrait  (cat.  no.  44)  and  Amorpha,  Fugue  (cat. 
no.  92). 

All  the  paintings  on  the  theme  of  blue  are  equivocal  in  their  connotations  of 
ascent/descent.  As  seen  elsewhere  (see  discussion,  cat.  no.  96),  the  two  movements 
are  equivalent,  not  contradictory,  in  Kupka's  mind.  The  diamond-shaped  forms 
used  in  other  paintings  on  this  theme  and  the  tapered  diagonal  planes  pointing 
upward/downward  here  unite  both  directions  in  a  single  form. 


280 


169     Untitled.  193 1 

Oil  on  canvas,  2.6%  x  z6%" 
(68x68  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Rose  Fried  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

'New  York,  1953,  Rose  Fried,  no.  9 

(as  Triangles,  dated  1934) 
New  York,  i960,  Chalette;  Cincin- 
nati, i960;  Chicago,  i960;  Minne- 
apolis, 1961,  no.  16  (as  Triangles, 
dated  1934) 
*New  York,  1964,  Royal  S.  Marks, 

no.  6  or  7 
Dallas,  1972.,  no.  33  (as  Triangles, 
dated  1934),  repr. 


Since  the  exact  title  of  this  painting  is  unknown,  it  is  impossible  to  find  any  clues 
to  its  dating  through  early  exhibition  histories.  Furthermore  the  image  is  unique 
and  the  technique  of  threaded  color  is  unusual.  The  triangles,  their  interrelation- 
ships, and  the  diagonally  articulated  ground,  relate  this  painting  to  Equation  of 
Moving  Blues  (cat.  no.  151).  Yet  the  rhythm  which  was  so  important  to  Kupka 
is  entirely  different  here.  The  strictly  parallel  alignments  in  the  present  picture 
are  far  removed  from  the  free-flowing  natural  rhythms  seen  in  the  earlier  painting. 
The  tighter  more  symmetrical  arrangement  will  be  characteristic  of  Kupka's  work 
in  the  1930s.  The  square  format  is  also  more  frequent  during  that  decade. 


.-. 


181 


170     Abstractions  drawn  by  Frantisek 
Kupka  (Abstrah.ce  Kreslil 
Frantisek  Kupka).  1928-32.; 
1945-46 

Book  of  1 6  pages,  8V4  x  6" 
(21  x  15.3  cm.)  each 

Private  Collection 


■JL-L 


i!    1i~ 


According  to  Fedit  (p.  137),  these  drawings  were  probably  worked  on  in  the 
period  1928-32,  at  a  time  when  Kupka  was  attempting  to  purify  his  forms.  The 
first  twelve  of  the  total  of  sixteen  were  originally  published  on  a  single  page  in 
Abstraction-Creation,  no.  2,  1933,  p.  26.  This  repertory  of  forms  will  be  found 
developed  in  diverse  manners  throughout  the  1930s.  Many  of  the  original  gouaches 
and  related  studies  are  in  the  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne,  Paris. 

In  1948,  the  entire  sixteen  were  published  on  separate  sheets  in  the  small  book 
exhibited  here. 


282 


171     Diagonal  Planes  II  (Plans  diago- 
nauxll).  193 1 

Oil  on  canvas,  351/2X431,4" 
(90  x  no  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  302,  repr.  p.  225; 

color  pi.  XXVII 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 

(O3824) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  67 
"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  114 
*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

27,  repr. 
*Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965,  no.  17 
''Cologne,  1967,  no.  79,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  79,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  53;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 

93,  repr.;  Prague,  1968,  no.  101, 

repr. 
Geneva,  1970,  no.  72;  Zurich,  1970, 
no.  72 


1S3 


172.     Reduced  replica  of  Diagonal 
Planes  V  (Plans  diagonaux  V). 
1931-33 

Gouache,  6lA  x  67s"  (16  x  17.5  cm.) 
Signed  lr  "Kupka" 
Collection  Karl  Flinker 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
to  present  owner 


This  is  a  small  scale  replica  of  an  oil  painting  of  1931-33. 1  The  number  of  the 
painting  in  the  series  of  Diagonal  Planes  remains  unclear.  Kupka  has  identified 
the  gouache  as  Diagonal  Planes  V;  the  dimensions  for  it  in  the  Carre  195 1  ex- 
hibition catalogue  correspond  to  those  of  Diagonal  Planes  I,  Prague  1946,  cat.  no. 
113.  Vachtova  identifies  this  composition  as  Diagonal  Planes  111. 


1  Collection  Louis  Carre,  Paris. 


284 


lS5 


173     Abstract  Painting  (Peinture 
abstraite).  1930-32 

Oil  on  canvas,  49^  x  33V2" 
(125  x  85  cm.) 

Signed  1  of  c  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  301,  color  pi.  XXIX 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O  3827) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1936,  Salon  des  lndependants, 

no.  1810 

*Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  58, 

repr. 
^Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  82 
*Paris,  1958,  MNAM,  no.  60 
*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 

no.  26 
^Prague,  1965,  Galerie  Karlovo 

Namesti,  no.  13 
*Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965,  no.  16 
'"Cologne,  1967,  no.  78,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  78,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  51,  repr.;  Amsterdam, 

1968,  no.  81,  repr.;  Prague,  1968, 
no.  99,  repr. 

Geneva,  1970,  no.  71;  Zurich,  1970, 
no.  71 

Stockholm-Goteborg,  1973,  no.  no 


This  painting  is  one  of  Kupka's  earliest  and  purest  neo-plastic  statements.  Ob- 
viously inspired  by  the  black  and  white  gouaches  of  1928-32,  it  can  be  specifically 
related  to  the  third  and  sixth  drawings  in  that  series.  In  drawing  no.  3  of  the  1933 
publication,  a  vertical  line  extends  from  the  top  edge  of  the  study,  a  horizontal 
from  the  right  side.  The  position  of  the  off-center  rectangle  is  determined  by  their 
intersection  at  its  upper  left  corner.  A  third  vector,  from  the  lower  edge  and  longer 
than  the  other  two,  is  not  drawn,  but  is  implicit.  Similarly,  the  three  lines  in 
Abstract  Painting,  if  extended,  would  intersect  and  bound  the  three  sides  of  a 
rectangle. 

In  1912-13,  Kupka  wrote:  "The  straight  line  represents  the  abstract  world.  It 
is  absolute  .  .  .  the  optical  sense  grasps  it  in  its  entirety  and  easily  imagines  its 
extension  in  space.  Since  the  line  starts  from  a  point,  the  eye  merely  records  it  as 
a  direction."1 

This  painting  is  generally  dated  1930.  Supposedly  in  that  year,  Kupka  did  little 
painting  (see  Chronology)  and  there  are  no  paintings  showing  such  a  pure  con- 
ception and  consummate  control  before  1931-32.  Apparently  the  founding  of  the 
Abstraction-Creation  group  in  February  1931  encouraged  him  to  pursue  his  objec- 
tive of  "pure  painting."  In  1932,  he  wrote  to  Waldes:  "I  have  abandoned  machines 
and  am  back  to  pure  abstraction."2  Since  the  black  and  white  gouaches  were  not 
published  until  1933,  and  this  painting  was  not  exhibited  before  1936,  one  is 
tempted  to  question  the  1930  date. 


1  Manuscript  II,  p.  35. 

2  Vachtova,  p.  22.2. 


286 


287 


174     Planes  11  (Plans  II).  193Z 

Watercolor  on  paper,  10%  x  14" 
(27  x35.5  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
to  present  owner 


288 


175     Eudia  (Eudia).  1933 


Oil  on  canvas,  26  x  26"  (66  x  66  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  308,  repr.  p.  2.2.7;  color 
pi.  XXVIII 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O3832) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Paris,  1936,  Jeu  de  Paume,  no.  53 
''Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  85 
*Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961,  no. 

28,  repr. 

s'Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965,  no.  18 
London,  1967,  no.  82,  repr. 
Brussels-Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  82 
'Prague,  1968,  no.  102,  repr.  (on  its 

side) 


The  term  "Eudia"  was  one  which  Kupka  referred  to  throughout  his  lifetime.  It  was 
fundamental  to  his  aesthetic.  The  first  written  reference  to  the  term  is  in  the  1910-n 
notebook:  "Greece  gave  us  Eudia,  measure,  a  sense  of  proportions  and  rhythms; 
[Greece]  gave  us  rational  knowledge,  but  could  not  and  never  will  transform  our 
tendencies  toward  intuitions,  sentimentality,  dreams."1  A  few  pages  later  he  noted: 
"The  spontaneous  rhythm  [created]  by  the  repetition  of  proportions  represented 
by  lines  or  planes  is  like  the  assemblage  of  motifs  on  a  printed  fabric.  The  conscious 
and  desired  rhythm,  harmony,  Eudia  of  all  components."2 


1  Manuscript  I,  p.  9. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  26. 


ij6     Syncopated  Black  Disks  (Disques 
noirs  syncopes).  1930-33 

Gouache  and  pencil  on  paper, 
9%  x  7%"  (25  x  20  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Lent  by  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art,  Purchase,  Rogers  Fund,  1968 
(68.108) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Estate  of  the  artist 

Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 

Private  Collection,  New  York 

Spencer  A.  Samuels  and  Company, 

Ltd. 

to  present  owner 


This  watercolor  is  one  of  the  earlier  of  Kupka's  1928-32  abstractions,  revealed 
by  the  fluidity  of  its  forms.  The  composition  is  obviously  inspired  by  Etalage  jaune 
et  violet  (Display  of  Yellow  and  Purple),  dated  1921-29  by  Kupka  (Vachtova  cat. 
no.  219,  repr.  p.  304;  dated  1921).  In  a  1933  photograph  of  Kupka  in  his  studio, 
one  can  see  this  painting  on  the  upper  left  wall  (fig.  12,  p.  314).  Syncopated  Black 
Disks  also  draws  on  the  formal  invention  of  The  Horesmen  (cat.  no.  9)  and  shows 
a  point  of  departure  for  the  disarticulated  circles  seen  throughout  the  1930s. 


290 


177     Dynamic  Disks?  (Disques  dynami- 
ques?).  1931-33 

Gouache  on  paper,  11  x  11" 
(28  x  28  cm.) 

Signed  11  "Kupka" 
Collection  Richard  S.  Zeisler, 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Rose  Fried  Gallery,  New  York 

to  present  owner 


This  gouache  is  a  study  for  the  painting  on  the  left  in  fig.  12,  p.  314,  a  work  which 
was  obviously  derived  from  the  circular  forms  and  rectilinear  background  seen  in 
the  machine  painting,  Synthese  (Synthesis,  NG,  Prague)  visible  to  the  right  of  it. 
The  juxtaposition  of  these  two  paintings  shows  how  the  abstract  imagery  of  the 
1930s  and  1940s  developed  from  the  machine  series. 

The  painting  Around  a  Point,  visible  on  Kupka's  easel  in  this  photograph,  is  seen 
in  its  first  state,  prior  to  c.  1934.  Synthesis  is  seen  here  in  its  final  state,  probably 
1933,  which  confirms  a  1933  dating  of  the  photograph,  and  helps  establish  the 
dating  of  this  gouache. 


291 


178     Study  for  Circulars  and  Recti- 
linears.  1931-35 

Gouache  on  paper,  izYt  x  11%" 
(31. 1  x  29.9  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  E.  S., 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1955 


The  collage  technique  used  in  this  study  (an  assemblage  of  three  separate  pieces 
of  paper)  provides  an  insight  into  Kupka's  way  of  preparing  some  of  his  composi- 
tions during  this  period.  In  view  of  the  fairly  classic  closed  forms,  this  must  be  a 
rather  early  study  for  the  1937  painting  Circulars  and  Rectilinears. 


179     Circulars  and  Rectilinears  (Circu- 
lates et  rectilignes).  1937 

Oil  on  wood,  40V&  x  40%" 
(102  x  102  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  316,  color  pi.  XXVI 

Collection  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague 
(O  3826) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1946 


EXHIBITIONS: 

^Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  147 
::~Pisek— Ceske  Budejovice,  1961, 

no.  30 
"Prague,  1965,  Galerie  Karlovo 

Namestf,  no.  12 
*Usti  nad  Orlici,  1965,  no.  19 
London,  1967,  no.  83 
Brussels-Rotterdam,  1967,  no.  83, 
repr. 

''Prague,  1968,  no.  103,  repr. 
''Belgrade,  1969,  no.  19,  repr. 
Stockholm-Goteborg,  1973,  no.  112 


292 


The  overlapping  and  segmented  circular  forms  in  this  painting  are  distinctly 
reminiscent  of  Lissitsky's  revolutionary  Proun  paintings  executed  prior  to  1924. 
In  Kupka's  case,  it  is  generally  assumed  and  visually  logical  that  he  developed  these 
configurations  autonomously,  as  an  abstract  extension  of  his  studies  of  machines. 
Nonetheless  the  question  of  whether  Lissitsky's  Prouns  exerted  some  influence 
remains  unanswered.  The  latter  works  were  surely  known  to  Kupka,  through  his 
involvement  with  the  Abstraction-Creation  group. 


193 


180     Divertimento  I  (Divertissement  I). 
1938 

Oil  on  canvas,  235/s  x  3614" 
(60  x92  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Vachtova,  no.  315 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P. 
Fuller 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

^Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  148 
Lausanne,  1955,  no.  47 


4 


294 


1 8 1     Divertimento  II  (Divertissement 
II).  1938 

Oil  on  canvas,  24  x  35"  (62  x  90  cm.) 

Signed  lr"Kupka" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  E.  S., 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  c.  1955 

EXHIBITIONS: 

"Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  149 
:>New  York,  1953,  Rose  Fried,  no.  4 
New  York,  i960,  Chalette;  Cincin- 
nati, i960;  Chicago,  i960;  Minne- 
apolis, 1961,  no.  14,  repr. 
New  York,  1964,  Sidney  Janis,  no.  9, 
repr. 


1  A  good  selection  of  these  paintings  is 
in  the  MNAM,  Pans. 


Divertimento  I  and  //  show  the  complex  circular  forms  seen  in  Circulars  and 
Rectilinears.  They  owe  their  horizontal  format,  intricate  rhythms  and  deviation 
from  the  primary  color  scale  to  a  group  of  pictures  on  the  theme  of  Jazz  which, 
as  looser  variations  on  the  machine  theme,  were  executed  in  1935-37.'  The  title 
Divertimento  may  contain  an  allusion  to  music  and  thereby  be  a  conscious  ex- 
tension of  the  Jazz  concept  and  formal  themes. 


\ 


"-95 


i8z     Untitled.  1933? 

Gouache  on  paper,  10%  x  11 
(27.3  x  28  cm.) 

Inscribed,  signed  and  dated  Ir  "A 
mon  cher  ami//Lieberman  [sic]// 
Kupka//33" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander 
Liberman 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

to  present  owner,  1950's 


296 


183     Orange  Circle  (Cercle  orange). 
1945-46 

Gouache  on  paper,  16V2  x  16V2" 
(4ZX42.cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Richard  S.  Zeisler, 
New  York 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  Paris 
to  present  owner 


This  is  a  study  for  the  painting  Orange  Circle  (Private  Collection,  New  York) 
exhibited  in  Prague,  1946,  cat.  no.  150,  dated  1946.  The  motif  is  seen  in  the  late 
abstract  drawings  of  1945-46  (see  cat.  no.  170,  no.  14).  Once  again  the  source  of 
inspiration  was  probably  a  mechanical  apparatus,  such  as  the  one  in  the  upper 
left  of  fig.  16,  p.  317,  which  may  be  a  strobe  light. 


2-97 


184     Reduced  replica  of  Contrasts 

Series  C  III,  Elevation  (Serie  Con- 
trasteslll,  Elevation).  1932.-38 

Gouache  on  cream  paper,  9%  x  13" 
(25  x33  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka;"  inscribed  r 
margin  "Elevation, //Exp.  New 
York//i932-38//chez  L.  Carre." 

Fedit,  no.  i53,repr. 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 

Paris  (AM  2791-D) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 


II 


HI 


II     II      II      II 


1  Listed  by  Fedit  as  a  study  for  the 
painting,  this  author  believes  this  work 
to  be  a  reduced  replica  done  after  the 
finished  work. 


This  gouache  is  a  replica  of  Contrasts  Series  111.1  The  painting  (Prague,  1946,  cat. 
no.  96,  dated  1935-46)  is  in  the  Collection  Louis  Carre,  Paris.  Carre  dated  it  1938 
in  his  1951  exhibition  of  the  artist's  work.  The  title  betrays  the  work's  architectural 
inspiration.  The  formal  components  derive  from  the  1928-32  gouaches. 


Kupka,  Contrasts  Series  VI,  1935-46,  oil, 
NG,  Prague. 


185      Contrasts  Series  (IV?)  (Serie  con- 
trastes  [IV?]).  1935-46 

Oil  on  canvas,  26  x  28%" 
(66  x  72  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P. 
Fuller 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITION: 

*Prague,  1946,  Manes,  no.  97  (as 
Serie  C IV) 


This  work,  like  cat.  nos.  184,  186,  187,  belongs  to  a  series  which  Kupka  worked 
on  primarily  between  1935  and  1946.  It  is  unclear  whether  he  worked  on  them 
during  the  war  years,  or  started  them  before  going  to  Beaugency  and  finished  them 
afterwards.1  Ten  paintings  called  Serie  C,  numbered  I  through  X,  all  dated  1935- 
46,  were  exhibited  in  Prague,  1946  (cat.  nos.  94-103). 

All  of  these  paintings  show  a  definite  architectural  inspiration.  The  most  obvious 
is  seen  in  Serie  C  VI,  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague.2  Some  of  the  studies  (ex.  cat.  no. 
186;  also  Fedit,  cat.  no.  154,  p.  152)  suggest  a  debt  to  van  Doesburg.3  The  early 
works  in  the  series  contained  complex  patterns  and  vivid  colors.  Gradually  the 
compositions  became  simpler,  the  colors  more  monochromatic  (see  cat.  nos.  186, 
187). 

The  dimensions  of  this  painting  suggest  that  it  was  Serie  C  IV  (Prague,  1946, 
no.  97). 


1  See  chronology.  Fedit  maintains  that 
Kupka  did  no  painting  in  Beaugency 
(in  conversation  with  the  author). 

2  See  fig.,  p.  298.  This  painting  shows 
surprising  similarities  to  Sophie 
Taeuber-Arp's  1926  architectural 
drawings  for  L'Aubette  in  Strasbourg, 
drawings  which  include,  in  an  arch- 
itectural framework,  her  designs  for 
floor  tiles.  (See  cat.  for  exhibition  Art 
abstrait  constructif  international, 
December  1961,  Galerie  Denise  Rene, 
Paris,  n.p.,  repr.)  A  reminiscence  (?)  of 
the  tile  pattern  is  seen  in  the  central 
portion  of  this  painting. 

3  For  example,  van  Doesburg's  Destruc- 
tive Composition,  1918  (watercolor), 
The  Non-Objective  "World,  1914-1955, 
University  Art  Museum,  University  of 
Texas  at  Austin,  1973,  repr.  p.  63. 


299 


1 86     Study  for  Series  C  (Etude  pour 
SerieC).  1935-46 

Gouache  on  paper,  10%  x  11V2" 
(Z7.4  x  29. z  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Private  Collection 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 
Eugenie  Kupka 
Karl  Flinker 
Gimpel  Fils,  London 
to  present  owner,  1964 


— r 


*•<*>, 


300 


187     Contrasts  Series  XI  (Serie  con- 
trastesXI).  1947 

Oil  on  composition  board,  28%  x 
23%"  (72.x  60  cm.) 

Signed  lr  "Kupka" 

Fedit,  no.  155,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  328,  repr.  p.  245 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4201-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1947,  Salon  des  Realties 
Nouvelles,  no.  184  (hors  catalogue) 
Taris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realties 

Nouvelles,  no.  XLVIII 
Saint  Etienne,  1957,  no.  23,  repr.  no.  9 
''Cologne,  1967,  no.  62,  repr.; 

Munich,  1967,  no.  62,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  57;  Amsterdam,  1968,  no. 

102,  repr.;  Prague,  1968,  no.  105, 

repr. 


r_    r 


The  artist's  label  on  the  stretcher  identifies  this  painting  as  Serie  contrastes  X, 
1947.  Since  the  1946  Prague  catalogue  gives  very  different  dimensions  for  no.  X 
in  this  series  (Prague,  1946,  cat.  no.  103,  38  x  46  cm.),  this  painting,  presumably 
done  after  the  exhibition,  must  be  no.  XI.  The  last  painting  in  the  series,  according 
to  Fedit,  no.  XII,  dated  1954  by  Kupka,  is  also  in  the  Musee  National  d'Art 
Moderne,  Paris  (Fedit,  cat.  no.  158,  p.  156). 


301 


Vibration  through  Lines  (Vibrants 
par  traits).  1948 

Oil  on  canvas,  43%  x  35V2" 
(109.9  X90.2  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  1c  "Kupka//48" 

Collection  Margit  Chanin,  Ltd. 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Galerie  Louis  Carre,  Paris 

to  present  owner 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Paris,  1949,  Maeght,  no.  100 

::'New  York,  1951,  Louis  Carre,  no.  16 

Paris,  1955,  no.  52 

Vienna,  1953,  no.  53?  (cat.  not 

located) 


302 


189     Autonomous  White  'Blanc  au- 
tonome).  1952 

Oil  on  canvas,  2.7V2  x  27V2" 
(70  x  70  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//52." 

Fedit,  no.  157,  repr. 
Vachtova,  no.  347,  repr.  p.  244 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (AM  4202-P) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift,  1963 

EXHIBITIONS: 

*Paris,  1953,  Salon  des  Realties 
Nouvelles,  no.  LY  as  Blanc 
automne) 

='Cologne,  1967,  no.  63,  repr.; 
Munich,  1967,  no.  63,  repr.;  Vienna, 

1967,  no.  58,  repr.:  Amsterdam, 

1968,  no.  103,  repr.  twice;  Prague, 
1968,  no.  106,  repr. 


303 


190     Tivo  Blues  II  (Deux  Bleus  II).  1956 

Oil  on  canvas,  3  8 14  x  ly'/i' 
(97.2  x  84.6  cm.) 

Signed  and  dated  lr  "Kupka//i956" 

Collection  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York, 
Gift,  Mme.  Eugenie  Kupka, 
Courbevoie,  France,  1962  (1618) 

PROVENANCE: 

the  artist 

Eugenie  Kupka 

to  present  owner,  gift 

EXHIBITIONS: 

Sao  Paulo,  1957,  no.  43 
New  York,  1967,  SRGM 
New  York,  1970,  SRGM 


During  his  last  years,  once  again  Kupka  returned  to  the  theme  of  the  Form  of  Blue 
(see  cat.  no.  168).  In  1955,  he  executed  Two  Blues  I  (MNAM,  Paris),  a  slightly 
more  elaborate  and  dynamic  painting,  followed  by  Two  Blues  II  in  1956.  The 
form  of  the  vertical  lozenge  is  the  ideal  shape  of  blue.  Usually  Kupka  used  a  single 
form  in  his  paintings  on  this  theme.  However  the  double  motif  as  seen  here  was 
used  in  an  earlier  version  of  1919-24  (Collection  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller, 
New  York). 


304 


CHRONOLOGY1 


Meda  Mladek  and  Margit  Rowell 


i  The  documentation  for  this  chronology 
has  been  compiled  from  many  sources. 
Whenever  possible,  primary  source 
material  has  been  consulted,  most  of 
which  is  unpublished.  These  sources 
include: 

Unpublished  correspondence:  Kupka/ 
J.  S.  Machar  (1900-1911),  Collection 
Strahov  Library,  Prague;  Kupka/ 
Arthur  Roessler  (1894-1914),  Collec- 
tion Wiener  Stadtbibliothek,  Vienna; 
Eugenie  Kupka/Ica  Waldes  (1919- 
1936),  Collection  Narodni  Galerie, 
Prague;  Kupka/Jindrich  Waldes  (1919- 
1936),  Collection  Narodni  Galerie, 
Prague;  Kupka/A.  P.  Gallien  (partic- 
ularly 1921-1927),  Collection  Gallien; 
Kupka/Theo  van  Doesburg  (1926- 
1931),  Collection  Nelly  van  Doesburg; 
Kupka/Georges  Vantongerloo  (1934- 
195 1),  Collection  Max  Bill;  Kupka/ 
Max  Bill  (1945),  Collection  Max  Bill; 
and  unpublished  personal  notes  of  the 
artist. 

Since  it  would  be  impossible  to  foot- 
note every  item,  only  the  most 
essential  or  problematic  references 
have  been  footnoted  here. 

2  In  much  of  his  autobiographical 
material,  Kupka  gives  September  23  as 
his  birth  date.  The  birth  certificate  of 
the  Opocno  parish  also  indicates 
September  23.  However  the  Dobruska 
archives  record  the  date  of  birth  as 
September  22  and  the  date  of  baptism 
as  September  23.  The  family  tree 
established  by  Kupka's  sister  also  gives 
the  date  September  22.  Therefore 
despite  the  error  which  Kupka  perpe- 
trated by  giving  the  September  23  date 
to  all  of  his  biographers,  September  22 
seems  to  be  correct. 

3  An  exceptional  teacher  for  his  time, 
Studnicka  oriented  his  students  toward 
the  abstract  symbolism  and  expressive 
values  of  color,  shape  and  line.  He 
wrote  a  grammar  of  ornament  which 
was  published  in  installments  in  the 
1880's,  upon  which  many  of  Kupka's 
ideas,  expressed  much  later,  are  based. 


1871 

Born  September  zi2  in  Opocno,  a 
small  city  in  Eastern  Bohemia  to 
Vaclav  Kupka,  a  notarial  clerk,  and 
his  wife  Josefa  Spackova.  Eldest  of 
five  children. 

1872 

Family  moves  to  Dobruska,  where 
father  appointed  district  secretary. 
Father  carves  toys  for  Frantisek  and 
teaches  him  to  draw. 


Falls  dangerously  ill  with  smallpox 
which  scars  his  face  for  life. 


July  26:  death  of  his  mother. 

1883 

Sent  to  live  with  Vogel,  a  miller,  in  a 
small  village  in  Orlicke  Hory, 
Olesnice,  where  he  learns  German 
and  completes  his  compulsory  educa- 
tion requirements. 


Registers  as  apprentice  with  master 
saddler  Siska  who  initiates  him  to 
spiritism.  Runs  away  several  times, 
visiting  nearby  cities  where  he 
admires  Baroque  painting  and 
sculpture. 

1887 

Travels  to  southern  Bohemia  in 
search  of  employment.  Fills  diary  with 
sketches  of  regional  costumes.  Spends 
several  months  in  Domazlice,  where 
he  learns  to  mix  colors  and  paints 
saints  and  trade  signs  in  an  artist's 
studio. 


Returns  to  Dobruska.  Receives  first 
commission,  for  a  painting  of  St. 


Joseph,  from  Archleb,  mayor  of 
Dobruska.  Archleb  introduces  him  to 
Studnicka,3  director  of  Crafts  School 
at  Jammer,  who  accepts  him  as  a 
private  student  and  prepares  him  for 
Prague  Academy.  Highly  recom- 
mended by  Studnicka,  enters  prepara- 
tory class  at  Prague  Academy  in 
September. 

1889 

Enrolls  in  Prague  Academy's  Depart- 
ment of  Historical  and  Religious 
painting.  Studies  with  Sequens,  a 
Nazarene  painter.  Activity  as  a 
medium  helps  him  earn  a  living,  but 
contributes  to  emotional  instability. 
Summer  in  Dobruska  where  he  rents 
a  studio  in  the  house  of  Alois  Beer,  a 
folk  painter  and  chronicler.  Paints  a 
large  view  of  Dobruska  for  Archleb. 


Manifests  strong  patriotic  sentiment, 
painting  figures  in  folk  costume  in  the 
style  of  Josef  Manes,  signing  them 
Dubros  and  later  D.  Kupka  to  give  his 
name  a  more  Slavonic  ring.  He  longs 
to  go  abroad,  feeling  that  his  future 
lies  elsewhere. 


Admitted  to  Sequens'  master  class. 
Continues  to  paint  historical  patriotic 
themes.  Summer  in  Valassko,  Mora- 
via, a  region  rich  in  folklore,  where 
he  paints  figures  in  local  costume. 
Continues  activity  as  a  medium. 


August  2.1:  receives  diploma  from 
Prague  Academy.  Summer  in  Ziletice 
near  Znojmo. 

October  10:  enrolls  at  Vienna  Acad- 
emy where  he  is  admitted  directly  to 
master  class  of  Eisenmenger,  another 


30S 


Nazarene.  Shares  apartment  with 
Milos  Meixner,  a  fellow  student  from 
Prague,  at  Pilgramgasse  13.  Under 
Eisenmenger's  influence,  paints  sym- 
bolic allegorical  subjects,  hoping  in 
vain  to  win  a  Rome  Prize  and  a  year 
in  Rome. 

Extreme  poverty  forces  him  to  with- 
draw from  Academy. 


Reinstated  at  Academy  as  scholarship 
student.  Reads  avidly;  particularly 
Greek  and  German  philosophers: 
Plato,  Aristotle,  Paracelsus,  Kant, 
Schopenhauer,  Nietzsche  and 
German  Romantics.  Also  reads 
extensively  on  astronomy,  chemistry, 
natural  history  and  sciences,  anatomy, 
astrology,  Theosophy,  eastern  relig- 
ions, witchcraft  and  occult  sciences. 
Apartment  with  Meixner  becomes 
meeting  place  for  members  of  a 
Theosophical(P)  group  who  call 
themselves  "Brothers,"  indulge  in 
philosophical  discussions  and  sign 
their  correspondence  with  a  "W." 
Commissioned  by  the  Kunstverein  to 
paint  a  monumental  work,  The  Last 
Dream  of  the  Dying  Heine.  Rents  a 
studio  on  Porcelangasse  and  with- 
draws from  Academy. 

1894 

With  exhibition  of  The  Last  Dream 
of  the  Dying  Heine  at  Kunstverein, 


becomes  overnight  celebrity.  Receives 
portrait  commissions  from  Viennese 
aristocracy.  Paints  patriotic  subjects 
for  Czech  organizations  in  Vienna. 
Through  Meixner,  meets  Karl  Dief- 
enbach,  the  "Kohlrabi  Apostle,"  a 
German  painter-philosopher  living 
near  Vienna  since  1892.  Becomes 
devoted  disciple:  vegetarian  and 
physical  culture  enthusiast.  Meets 
Maria  Bruhn,  a  Danish  dress  designer, 
who  offers  him  work  as  a  fashion 
illustrator.  Intense  and  stormy  rela- 
tionship develops. 
Summer:  travels  to  Denmark  with 
Maria  Bruhn.  Leaves  her  to  visit 
Norway,  returns  to  Denmark  to 
accompany  her  back  to  Vienna. 
Meets  Austrian  university  student 
and  art  critic  Arthur  Roessler  with 
whom  he  discusses  philosophy  and 
art  and  engages  in  a  long  corres- 
pondence. Involved  in  Theosophy 
and  Oriental  philosophy. 

1896 

Spring:  settles  permanently  in  Paris, 
taking  small  sunny  attic  room  in 
Montmartre.4  Despite  extreme 
poverty,  is  very  happy,  overwhelmed 
by  new  impressions.  Finds  Paris  a 
healthier  atmosphere  for  painting, 
free  from  Vienna's  mysticism  and 
esoterism.  Visits  Alphonse  Mucha, 
his  compatriot,  living  in  Paris,  on  rue 


fig-  1. 

Kupka,  The  Bibliomane,  1897,  oil. 


4  Almost  all  of  Kupka's  biographical  and 
autobiographical  material  states  that 
he  settled  in  Paris  in  1895.  However  his 
letters  to  Roessler  indicate  that  he  did 
not  settle  there  permanently  until  the 
Spring  of  1896. 


306 


fig.  2. 

Kupka,  Monkey  King,  1899,  watercolor 
and  pastel,  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague. 


fig-3- 

Kupka,  Les  Fous,  1899,  lithograph. 


de  la  Grand  Chaumiere.  Will  see  him 
often  in  ensuing  years. 

1897 

Maria  Bruhn  arrives  in  Paris,  helps 
him  financially.  Takes  short  trip  alone 
to  London.  Attends  the  Academie 
Julian  briefly,  leaves  to  study  with 
J.  P.  Laurens,  an  historical  and 
allegorical  painter  at  the  Ecole  des 
Beaux-Arts.  Abandons  painting 
temporarily  for  fashion  illustration. 
Moves  with  Maria  to  country  house 
in  La  Breteche  near  Paris.  Paints  The 
Bibliomane,  an  attempted  rejection  of 
mysticism  and  return  to  nature,  as 
well  as  return  to  painting.  Maria  falls 
seriously  ill. 

1898 

Follows  Maria  to  Vienna  where  she 
dies  of  cancer.  Returns  to  Paris  via 
Strasbourg.  With  small  inheritance 
from  Maria,  rents  a  large  studio  and 
apartment  at  10,  rue  Fromentin.  Visits 
Jardin  des  Plantes  to  draw  monkeys, 
in  reaction  against  the  superficial 
prettiness  of  fashion  illustration.  Dis- 
solute nights  in  Montmartre  until 
money  runs  out.  Meets  Gabrielle 
whom  he  will  immortalize  in  Money 
(cat.  no.  1)  the  following  year. 

1899 

Rents  small  studio  at  84,  boulevard 
Rochechouart,  almost  next  door  to 


Bruant's  cabaret.  Decides  to  become 
professional  illustrator  to  earn  a 
living.  Illustrations  for  Cocorico; 
lithographs  reproduced  in  La  Flume 
and  exhibited  at  the  same  gallery; 
posters  for  neighboring  cabarets 
(L'Ane  rouge,  L'Auberge  du  clou,  he 
Chat  noir.)  Exhibits  for  the  first  time 
in  Paris  at  the  Salon  de  la  Societe 
Nationale  des  Beaux-Arts. 

1900 

Exhibits  at  Paris  World's  Fair  in  sec- 
tion reserved  for  Austrian  artists— 
The  Bibliomane,  The  Fools  (Les  Fous) 
and  drawings.  Visits  World's  Fair,  is 
particularly  impressed  by  "Cineo- 
rama,"  a  cinematographic  voyage  to 
foreign  countries  in  a  balloon, 
projected  on  a  circular  screen. 
Continues  illustrations  for  Der  Tag  in 
Berlin;  LTllustration  in  Paris.  Illus- 
trations for  tales  of  Edgar  Allen  Poe 
(never  published).  Also  a  few  por- 
traits. Czech  poet  Machar  asks  Kupka 
to  illustrate  his  book  covers. 

1901 

Moves  to  57,  rue  Caulaincourt  where 
he  is  Jacques  Villon's  neighbor. 
Marcel  Duchamp  will  live  here  with 
his  brother  Villon  in  1904-05. 
August:  visits  Machar  in  Vienna  for 
four  weeks.  Enroute  to  Vienna  pauses 
briefly  in  Munich  to  see  Roessler. 


307 


Sojourn  with  Gabrielle  in  Croatian 
mountains.  Returning  to  Paris,  works 
on  cycle  of  satirical  drawings 
"Money"  (cat.  no.  n)  for  anarchist 
magazine  L'Assiette  au  benrre. 
Furious  for  having  wasted  time  on 
sentimental  or  symbolic  subjects; 
nonetheless  he  continues  to  produce 
them.  Fascinated  by  newly  invented 
electric  lights;  visits  electrical  labora- 
tories and  workshops  to  observe  light 
and  color. 

1902 

Exhibits  at  the  Salon  de  la  Societe 
Nationale  des  Beaux- Arts,  Paris. 
Sends  twenty-eight  drawings  and 
color  lithographs  to  first  Workers' 
Exhibition  in  Prague.  Series  "Money" 
is  great  success. 

1903 

Continues  satirical  drawings  for 
French  newspapers  including  Le 
Canard  sauvage  and  Les  Temps 
nouveaux.  Travels  to  Rome  for 
F Illustration.  Traumatic  break  with 
Gabrielle.  Visits  Parisian  studios  with 
Czech  critic;  disappointed  by  what  he 
sees.  Calls  the  painters  "comedians," 
more  interested  in  success  than  art. 
Admires  Villon  however.  "He  suffers 
from  Japonism  and  finds  my  painting 


old  fashioned."  Reads  French 
authors,  likes  Baudelaire,  Villiers  de 
l'Isle-Adam;  rejects  Dumas  and 
Victor  Hugo. 

1904 

Exhibits  Ballad-]oys  (cat.  no.  8) 
and  lithographs  at  St.  Louis  World's 
Fair.  Works  on  several  new  satirical 
cycles  for  L'Assiette  au  benrre: 
"Religion,"  "Civilization,"  "Free- 
dom," "Peace."  Learns  some  English. 
Meets  Eugenie  (Nini)  Straub,  wife  of 
Alsatian  army  officer,  mother  of 
three-year  old  Andree.  By  year's  end 
they  are  living  together.  Accepts  offer 
to  illustrate  L'Homme  et  la  terre  by 
anarchist  writer  Elisee  Reclus.  Book 
and  its  thesis  "Man  is  nature  becom- 
ing aware  of  itself"  appeals  to  him. 

1905 

L'Assiette  au  beurre  sold;  Kupka's 
contract  cancelled.  Extensive  study 
and  work  on  Reclus'  illustrations- 
studies  Chaldaic  and  Phoenician 
excavation  material  exhibited  in  Paris 
by  Renan,  Layard,  Dienlafoi.  Reads 
books  on  antiquity,  the  Bible.  Also 
attends  lectures  on  physics,  biology, 
physiology  at  the  Sorbonne.  Writes 
Machar  "It  seems  unnecessary  to 


fig-  4- 

Kupka,  Illustration  for  Elisee  Reclus, 
L'Homme  et  la  terre,  1905,  Vol.  I,  Book 
1,  title  page. 


fig-  5- 

Kupka,  Illustration  for  Les  Erinnyes, 

1906-08. 


308 


fig.  6. 

Kupka  in  his  garden  at  Puteaux,  c.  1906. 


fig- 7- 

Kupka,  Illustration  for  Prometheus, 

1908-09,  etching. 


5  In  a  letter  to  Machar  dated  March  12, 
1906,  Kupka  announces  his  intention 
to  move  to  Puteaux  and  gives  his  new 
address. 


paint  trees  when  people  see  more 
beautiful  ones  on  the  way  to  the 
exhibition.  I  paint  only  concepts, 

syntheses,  chords But  this  I  do . . . 

only  for  myself.  I  am  not  anxious  to 
show  it . . . ."  (April  Z4) 
August:  holiday  in  St.  Prix  where  he 
makes  studies,  erotic  drawings, 
watercolors.  Some  will  be  used  for 
second  edition  of  The  Song  of  Songs 
(cat.  no.  15).  First  one-man  exhibition 
organized  in  Bohemia— about  fifty 
oils,  one  hundred  drawings,  pastels, 
prints— will  travel  for  two  years. 
Great  popular  success  but  poor 
critical  response. 

July:  death  of  Elisee  Reclus.  October: 
publication  of  first  five  volumes  of 
L' Homme  et  la  terre. 

1906 

Continues  work  for  last  volume  of 
U Homme  et  la  terre  (to  be  published 
1908)  and  begins  work  on  illustra- 
tions for  Leconte  de  Lisle's  Les 
Erinnyes.  Spring:  moves  with  Nini  to 
small  house  with  garden  at  7,  rue 
Lemaitre  in  Puteaux,  a  suburb  of 
Paris.5  Villon  and  Raymond  Du- 
champ-Villon  will  be  his  next  door 
neighbors.  Summer  in  Theoule  in 
south  of  France  with  Nini  and 


Andree.  Exhibits  for  first  time  at  Paris 
Salon  d' Automne  showing  Autumn 
Sun  (cat.  no.  17). 

1907 

January:  visits  Louny,  Czecho- 
slovakia, with  Nini  for  final  showing 
of  traveling  exhibition.  Pleased  by 
exhibition's  popular  success.  Spring: 
trip  to  Prague.  Becomes  member  of 
Salon  d 'Automne  and  shows  Project 
for  Mural  Painting  (see  fig.  p.  46) 

1908 

Begins  work  on  illustrations  for 
Aeschylus'  Prometheus  and  Aristo- 
phanes' Lysistrata.  Begins  series  of 
"Gigolettes." 

1909 

Stops  working  for  newspapers  to 
concentrate  on  illustrated  books- 
new  edition  of  The  Song  of  Songs; 
Lysistrata  and  Kropotkin's  La 
Grande  revolution  (the  latter  never 
published).  Inspired  by  Mallarme's 
poetry,  starts  working  on  illustrations 
for  a  selection  of  his  poems.  Writes 
Machar  "Here  I  have  only  chords  and 
this  corresponds  to  my  feelings;  for 
the  other  books  I  need  a  great  deal 
of  documentation."  (February  5) 


309 


mer  Je  cell,  enpoiillon  inniKllc.  Ou  Jc  rcmr,ri)„nhk.  mor-ecu.   cBlnyslcnl  del  asuvrni  qui      ]      que  I  quel- unci  Jc  ce.  inlsmaUque.  pcinluru  qui,  tclon  leg  uni.  on!  torn  lei  ,\dlr*\ 
nunltnt  c«uitr  mielquc   .urprl.e.  Celt   pmrml   «.   dcrnftie.   que   nom   avoni   cbniH    let  Irante,  «1nn  le.  .ulrt.  (oulei  lea  audacei  Je  1'nrli.laalUc.     J 


%.  8. 

French  newspaper  Excelsior,  October  z, 

1912.,  p.  5- 


However  Mallarme's  daughter  will 
refuse  permission  to  publish  them. 
February  20:  First  Futurist  Manifesto, 
published  in  Le  Figaro  in  Paris, 
makes  lasting  impression  on  Kupka. 
Prize  from  Prague  Academy  provides 
financial  aid  and  allows  him  to 
devote  more  time  to  painting.  Visits 
Onesime  Reclus,  Elisee's  brother,  in 
Uccle,  Belgium,  where  he  may  have 
seen  large-scale  model  of  the  moon. 

1910 

March:  finally  marries  Eugenie. 
Studies  biology,  physiology,  neur- 
ology. 

May  18:  Technical  Manifesto  of 
Futurist  Painting  published  in  French 
in  Comoedia  IV,  no.  961. 
Lives  and  works  in  feverish  excite- 
ment, destroying  much  as  he  pro- 
gresses. Writes  to  Roessler  "Finally 
...  I  have  achieved  awareness  and  I 
stand  healthy  before  myself.  The 
moment  has  come  for  me  to  write  my 
credo  (paint,  draw)."  (October  6) 


Exhibits  The  Yellow  Scale  (cat.  no. 
29),  Peonies,  and  two  works  on 
paper  at  Salon  d'Automne.  Begins 
making  notes  for  a  treatise  on 
painting. 

1911 

Participates  in  meetings  of  Puteaux 
group:  includes  Duchamp-Villon, 
Villon,  Gleizes,  Metzinger,  Picabia, 
Tobeen,  La  Fresnaye,  Le  Fauconnier, 
Andre  Mare,  Leger  and  sporadically 
Duchamp  and  Gris.  Also  Apollinaire 
and  critics  Allard,  Roinard,  Olivier- 
Hourcade,  Salmon  and  Raynal; 
mathematician  Maurice  Princet, 
philosopher  Henri-Martin  Barzun 
and  Georges  Ribemont-Dessaignes. 
Meetings  on  Sundays  at  Villon's;  on 
Mondays  at  Gleizes'  in  nearby  Cour- 
bevoie.  Discussions  about  Leonardo, 
Cezanne  and  Seurat,  divine  propor- 
tions and  the  golden  section,  mathe- 
matics, non-Euclidean  geometry, 
Bergson,  "correspondences"  between 
music  and  painting,  the  concept  and 


6  Despite  extensive  research,  it  remains 
impossible  to  determine  whether 
Kupka  participated  in  the  Salon  de  la 
Section  d'Or.  Although  Kupka's  name 
does  not  appear  in  the  catalogue,  or  in 
any  reviews  of  this  exhibition  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  he  may  have 
been  included  in  the  show. 


310 


The  most  compelling  evidence  in 
support  of  this  belief  is  Nicolas 
Bauduin's  article  of  1956  (see  bibliog- 
raphy), in  which  the  author  gives  a 
vivid  eyewitness  account  of  the  exhibi- 
tion. He  describes  Apollinaire's  lecture 
and  the  clothes  he  was  wearing,  the 
walls  of  the  rooms,  hung  with  purple 
silk,  and  says  that  it  was  in  front  of 
Kupka's  three  paintings  that  Apolli- 
naire  expounded  his  Orphic  theory  of 
abstraction.  It  seems  improbable  that 
Bauduin  would  have  concocted  this, 
even  after  forty-four  years.  Bauduin 
also  notes  that  Kupka  made  up  his 
mind  to  exhibit  only  at  the  last  minute, 
when  it  was  too  late  to  include  him  in 
the  catalogue.  This  is  not  only  con- 
sistent with  Kupka's  character  but 
reflects  his  reluctance  to  be  identified 
with  "Cubists"  of  any  sort.  A  second 
piece  of  evidence  arguing  for  his  parti- 
cipation is  a  letter  from  Eugenie  Kupka 
to  Alfred  Barr  (December  zz,  1955), 
in  which  she  refers  to  an  unidentified 
painting  which  had  been  exhibited  at 
the  Section  d'Or  many  years  before. 
However,  one  cannot  consider  this 
vague  recollection  entirely  reliable. 
Finally  in  Turpin's  193 1  biography  of 
the  artist  (in  Edouard-Joseph's  Dic- 
tionnaire  biographique,  see  bibliog- 
raphy) the  author  alludes  to  Apolli- 
naire's comments  before  Kupka's  paint- 
ings at  the  Section  d'Or.  Again,  the 
accuracy  of  this  account  is  somewhat 
questionable  since  in  Kupka's  hand- 
written notes  for  this  article  (which 
Turpin  used  almost  verbatim)  there  is 
no  mention  of  the  Section  d'Or. 

The  arguments  against  Kupka's  par- 
ticipation are  equally  inconclusive. 
Fedit,  who  owns  Kupka's  personal 
copy  of  the  catalogue,  says  that  among 
the  copious  annotations,  there  is  no 
mention  of  his  own  inclusion.  Marcel 
Duchamp,  in  a  1961  interview  with 
William  Camfield  on  the  subject  of  the 
Section  d'Or  said  that  the  catalogue 
was  correct,  as  far  as  he  could  remem- 
ber, and  no  exhibitors  were  excluded. 
However,  once  again,  memories 
spanning  almost  fifty  years  are  in- 
volved. Finally  Kupka's  personal  notes 
and  his  own  autobiographical  essays 
which  contain  precise  references  to  his 
most  important  early  exhibitions  in- 
clude no  mention  of  the  Section  d'Or. 
Again,  however,  there  is  room  for  ques- 
tion, as  Kupka  may  not  have  con- 
sidered the  paintings  sent  to  the  Section 
d'Or  important  enough  to  mention. 
(Because  of  Kupka's  habit  of  changing 
titles,  none  of  these  paintings  have  been 
precisely  identified.) 


depiction  of  motion,  color  theory  and 
the  fourth  dimension. 
Signac's  D'Eugene  Delacroix  au  neo- 
impressionnisme  of  1 899  republished 
in  August.  Apollinaire  speaks  highly 
of  it  and  Kupka  probably  read  it  at 
this  time.  Concert  of  Bach  fugues 
crystallizes  Kupka's  thinking  that 
painting  may  be  as  abstract  as  music; 
that  nature  is  better  rendered  by 
cinematography;  that  painting  is  spe- 
cifically concerned  with  lines,  planes, 
colors,  light  and  shadow.  Begins 
studies  for  Amorpha,  Fugue  (cat.  no. 
92).  Continues  making  notes  for  his 
book  on  his  concept  of  the  function 
of  painting.  Exhibits  three  works 
from  "Gigolettes"  series  at  the  Salon 
des  htdependants  in  Spring  where 
Cubist  painters  first  show  as  a  group, 
and  Planes  by  Colors  (cat.  no.  42)  and 
Family  Portrait  (cat.  no.  44)  at  Salon 
d'Automne  in  the  Fall. 

1912 

February:  First  Futurist  exhibition  in 
Paris,  Galerie  Bernheim  Jeune. 
Continues  to  work  feverishly  accord- 
ing to  his  new  ideals.  Continues  notes 
for  his  book.  Exhibits  three  paintings 
all  called  Planes  by  Colors  (cat.  nos. 
53,  55,  59)  in  the  Cubist  room 
at  the  Salon  des  htdependants  where 
Duchamp  first  exhibits  Nude  De- 
scending a  Staircase.  Displeased  at 
being  identified  with  Cubists. 
Finally  at  the  Salon  d'Automne,  ex- 
hibits Amorpha,  Fugue  in  Two  Colors 
(cat.  no.  92)  and  Amorpha,  Warm 
Chromatics  (cat.  no.  86).  Critics  are 
disconcerted.  Gaumont  newsreels 
film  the  paintings  and  show  them  all 
over  Europe  and  America;  ask  Kupka 
to  defend  his  art  and  "initiate  the 
public"  by  painting  a  picture  before 
the  camera.  Kupka  declines.  With- 
draws from  Puteaux  group  to  lead  a 
solitary  existence.  However  will 
remain  friendly  with  his  neighbors 
Villon  and  Duchamp-Villon. 
October  10-30,  Galerie  la  Boetie, 
Salon  de  la  Section  I'Or.  It  is  unclear 
whether  Kupka  exhibited.6 

1913 

Continues  to  develop  ideas  on  non- 
objective  art.  Does  not  exhibit  at 


Armory  Show.  Exhibits  Vertical 
Planes  HI  (cat.  no.  97)  at  Salon  des 
htdependants  in  spring;  Organization 
of  Graphic  Motifs  I  and  II  (cat.  nos. 
105, 106)  at  Salon  d'Automne.  Be- 
tween these  two  exhibitions,  in  July- 
according  to  Kupka's  personal  notes- 
discovers  Kandinsky's  TJber  das 
Geistige  in  der  Kunst  through  his 
friend  the  musician  Morse-Rummel. 
October  19:  The  New  York  Times 
publishes  article  "  'Orpheism'  Latest 
of  Painting  Cults"  emphasizing 
Kupka's  role  in  the  development  of 
abstract  art.  "I  am  still  groping  in  the 
dark,"  Kupka  tells  the  interviewer 
Warshawsky,  "but  I  believe  I  can  find 
something  between  sight  and  hearing 
and  I  can  produce  a  fugue  in  colors 
as  Bach  has  done  in  music." 

1914 

At  outbreak  of  World  War  I,  enlists 
as  volunteer  and  fights  alongside 
Blaise  Cendrars  at  front  at  La  Somme. 

1915-18 

Evacuated  because  of  illness,  partici- 
pates in  organization  of  Czech 
resistance  in  Paris.  Appointed  Presi- 
dent of  Czech  colony;  produces 
Czech  propaganda  posters  under 
pseudonym  Dalny  which  he  uses 
throughout  the  war.  Gives  lectures, 
designs  uniforms,  medals,  postcards, 
stamps,  banners;  illustrations  for 
Czech  newspapers.  1917-18  works  on 
illustrations  for  The  Song  of 
Roland. 

Organizes  Czech  infantry  force  which 
will  become  a  regular  French  army 
regiment.  1918:  returns  to  combat 
under  Marechal  Foch  with  rank  of 
Lieutenant. 

1919 

February:  made  honorary  member  of 
Manes  Fine  Arts  Society  in  Prague. 
April:  visit  to  Prague;  discharged 
from  army  with  rank  of  Captain. 
Meets  Jindfich  Waldes  who  will  be 
his  benefactor  and  friend  until  1936. 
Returns  to  Paris  in  September  where 
he  works  a  great  deal  "to  make  up 
for  time  lost  during  the  war."  (Kupka 
to  Waldes,  December  9, 1919).  Ar- 
rangements made  to  translate  and 


311 


publish  manuscript  written  in  French 
before  the  war.  Exhibits  A  Tale  of 
Pistils  and  Stamens  (cat.  no.  120) 
and  Blue  Scaffolding  (cat.  no. 
125)  at  Salon  d'Automne. 

1920 

Corrects  Czech  translation  of  his 
book  La  Creation  dans  les  arts 
plastiques.  Visits  Chartres  often  and 
Brittany  where  he  studies  Celtic  art. 
Works  in  relative  solitude  in  Puteaux, 
going  to  Paris  infrequently.  Waldes 
visits  Paris  and  offers  Kupka  badly 
needed  financial  aid.  Exhibits 
Animated  Lines  (cat.  no.  135)  at  Salon 
d'Automne.  Meets  Felix  Del  Marie 
and  A.  P.  Gallien  around  this  time. 

1921 

Continuing  financial  difficulties. 
June:  first  one-man  exhibition  in 
Paris  at  Galerie  Povolozky.  Exhibi- 
tion, which  includes  much  recent 
work,  and  in  particular,  a  series  in 
black  and  white,  is  well  received. 


July:  La  Vie  des  lettres  publishes  an 
article  by  Kupka  in  which  he  explains 
his  reasons  for  abandoning  the  object 
in  painting. 

1922 

Publication  of  first  monograph  on 
Kupka,  by  L.  Arnould-Gremilly,  in 
France.  Summer  in  Theoule. 
October:  invited  to  Prague  by  Prague 
Academy  to  give  series  of  lectures  on 
the  psychology  of  the  artist.  In  first 
lecture,  attacks  all  academic  training 
upon  which  contract  cancelled.  Re- 
mains in  Prague  until  December. 
December:  Prague  Academy  appoints 
him  Professor  in  Paris  with  full 
professor's  salary.  Must  introduce 
Czech  students  in  Paris  to  French 
culture. 

1923 

Begins  preparing  courses  which  will 
start  in  March:  weekly  lectures  on 
French  art  and  culture,  and  excur- 
sions to  French  museums  and  monu- 


fig.9. 

Kupka,  Illustration  for  The  Song  of 
Roland  (signed  P.  Regnard),  1917-18; 
published  1919. 


fig.  10. 

Kupka  in  his  garden,  Puteaux,  c.  1920? 


312 


fig.  II. 

Partial  installation  photograph,  Galerie 
la  Boetie,  Paris,  October  16-31,  1914. 


merits  (Notre  Dame,  Chartres, 
Versailles,  Fontainebleau,  etc.).  Ex- 
periments, begun  at  unknown  date, 
with  kaleidoscope  and  microscope. 
Exhibits  Lines,  Planes,  Depths  (see 
cat.  no.  136)  and  Gradations  at  Salon 
des  lndependants.  The  museum  in 
Grenoble,  the  most  avant-garde  in 
France,  expresses  interest  in  his  work. 
Summer  in  Theoule  and  extensive 
traveling  in  south  of  France  (Nimes, 
Aries,  Avignon).  La  Creation  dans  les 
arts  plastiques  published  in  Prague. 

1914 

In  an  interview  (Paris- Journal,  May 
9, 192.4)  Picabia  says  that  "Kupka, 
Marcel  Duchamp  .  .  .  Man  Ray"  are 
among  the  painters  he  most  esteems. 
With  help  of  friends,  rents  Galerie  la 
Boetie  to  mount  a  retrospective  of  his 
work  held  October  16-31.  Widely  re- 
viewed, both  favorably  and  unfavor- 
ably, in  international  press.  Attends 
lectures  at  Sorbonne.  Manes  Society 


in  Prague  offers  Kupka  retrospective 
but  he  feels  the  space  is  not  appro- 
priate. "These  paintings  need  space 
and  much  light"  writes  Nini  to 
Waldes  (January  31, 1925).  Decem- 
ber: visits  Bordeaux,  the  Pyrenees, 
Toulouse. 

1925 

Kupka's  friends  Del  Marie  and  Gal- 
lien  discuss  translating  Kandinsky's 
Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst  into 
French;  also  envisage  French  edition 
of  Kupka's  book.  Close  friendship 
with  Gallien  during  this  period.  Sum- 
mer in  Theoule.  Begins  preparatory 
gouaches  for  album  of  woodcuts, 
many  based  on  motifs  developed  dur- 
ing preceding  years.  December:  ex- 
hibits with  group  Vonloir  in  Lille. 

1926 

March:  first  personal  contact  with 
van  Doesburg.  Receives  the  Croix  de 
la  Legion  d'Honnenr.  Summer  in 
Brittany.  At  year's  end,  publishes 


313 


fig.  12. 

Kupka  in  his  studio,  Puteaux,  c.  1933. 


woodcut  album  Quatre  histoires  de 
blanc  et  noir  (cat.  no.  165)  at  own  ex- 
pense. Aided  in  technical  aspects  and 
formulation  of  introductory  text  by 
Gallien.  Publication  generally  ignored 
and  financially  disastrous  for  Kupka. 

1927-28 

Reputation  continues  to  grow  slowly 
in  Prague.  Continuing  financial  dif- 
ficulties and  help  from  Waldes.  Biog- 
raphy published  by  Siblik  in  Prague 
in  1928  (French  edition,  1929).  Begins 
a  bust  of  Nini  for  Waldes,  the  only 
sculpture  he  will  ever  do. 

1929 

January:  visits  Kandinsky  exhibition 
in  Paris,  finds  paintings  cold,  me- 
chanical; believes  that  some  indica- 
tion of  the  artist's  process  should  be 
visible.  Van  Doesburg  asks  him  to 
participate  in  launching  a  new  art 
magazine.  Finishes  bust  of  Nini. 

1930 

Spring:  visits  the  Waldes'  in  Prague 
where  he  gives  lectures  and  inter- 
views. Visit  inspires  interest  among 
critics,  artists.  Returns  to  south  of 
France  for  Summer  and  Fall.  Poor 


health  sends  him  to  Corsica  until  mid- 
December.  Stops  all  painting.  Ex- 
tremely nervous  and  depressed. 

1931 

February  15:  founding  of  Abstrac- 
tion-Creation group.  Founding  mem- 
bers include  van  Doesburg,  Herbin, 
Vantongerloo,  Helion,  Arp,  Gleizes, 
Kupka,  Tutundjian,  Valmier.  Encour- 
aged by  confirmation  of  his  ideas  on 
abstraction,  begins  to  paint  again. 

I93I-33 

Turns  from  machine  series  to  pure 
abstractions.  Poor  health  obliges  him 
to  spend  much  time  in  south  of 
France  and  in  Savoie. 

1934 

Repaints  interior  of  his  house  with 
decorative  panels  in  folk-art  style 
(see  fig.  15).  Trip  to  London  with 
Nini,  Waldes  and  his  wife.  Shows 
with  Czech  artists  at  the  Jeu  de 
Paume  and  in  the  Salon  des  Inde- 
pendants  fiftieth  anniversary  exhibi- 
tion (Vertical  Planes  and  The  Form  of 
Vermilion).  Resigns  from  Abstrac- 
tion-Creation, but  remains  in  cordial 
contact  with  group  and  particularly 


314 


fig.  13. 

Prague,  1935?,  Standing  1  to  r:  Kupka, 
lea  Waldes,  Jindfich  Waldes;  Seated: 
Eugenie  Kupka. 


fig.  14. 

Kupka  at  Beaugency,  1944. 


friendly  with  Herbin  and  Vantonger- 
loo  until  the  end  of  his  life. 

1935 

Improved  health.  July:  visit  from 
Alfred  Barr  in  preparation  for  1936 
The  Museum  of  Modern  Art  exhibi- 
tion Cubism  and  Abstract  Art.  En- 
couraged by  this  visit,  Kupka  begins 
working  again.  Visits  prehistoric 
caves  near  Alvignac  (Lot)  during 
summer  vacation.  Trip  to  Prague 
over  Christmas. 

1936 

Exhibits  Static  Ensemble  and  Ab- 
stract Painting  (cat.  no.  173)  at  Salon 
des  Independants.  Exhibits  Disks  of 
Newton  (cat.  no.  75),  Vertical  Planes 
(cat.  no.  97)  and  Elementary  Games 
of  1 93 1  in  Cubism  and  Abstract  Art 
in  New  York. 

June:  large  two-man  exhibition  with 
Alphonse  Mucha  at  Jeu  de  Paume, 
Paris.  Health  deteriorates. 

1940-45 

Moves  to  wife's  house  in  Beaugency 
to  rest  and  restore  health  during  war 
years.  Little  painting  activity.  Returns 


to  Puteaux  in  October  1945.  Van- 
tongerloo  brings  Max  Bill  to  visit 
him.  Bill  much  impressed  by  Kupka's 
work. 

1946 

June:  Marcel  Duchamp  notifies 
Kupka  of  Alfred  Barr's  interest  in 
buying  works  for  The  Museum  of 
Modern  Art,  New  York. 
First  Salon  des  Realites  Nouvelles  in 
Paris,  where  Kupka  will  exhibit  reg- 
ularly until  his  death. 
November-December:  major  retro- 
spective exhibition  at  Manes  Fine 
Arts  Society  in  Prague  to  celebrate  his 
seventy-fifth  birthday.  Long  visit  to 
Prague  during  which  he  prepares 
catalogue,  hangs  show.  Exhibition  of 
his  graphic  work  mounted  by 
Narodni  Galerie,  Prague.  Czech  gov- 
ernment purchases  about  twenty 
major  works. 

1951 

Signs  contract  with  Louis  Carre;  sells 
him  large  number  of  paintings  from 
studio.  One-man  exhibition  at  Louis 
Carre  Gallery,  New  York. 


315 


fig.  15. 

Kupka  in  his  dining  room,  Puteaux, 
1951.  Note  the  decorative  panels  done 
by  the  artist  in  1934. 


316 


fig.  16. 

Kupka  in  his  studio,  1952. 


1952. 

General  recognition  begins  around 
this  time;  long  articles  in  French 
periodicals. 

1953 

One-man  exhibition  at  Rose  Fried 
Gallery,  New  York.  Special  exhibi- 
tion of  twenty-two  works  (Jubile 
Kupka)  at  the  Salon  des  Realties 
Nouvelles,  Paris. 

1954 

Exhibits  for  last  time  at  Salon  des 
Independartts—Flanes  by  Colors  (cat. 
no.  41)  and  Disks,  191 1. 

1956 

Alfred  Barr  purchases  group  of  major 
works  for  The  Museum  of  Modern 


Art,  New  York.  In  gratitude,  Kupka 
gives  the  museum  a  large  collection 
of  studies  and  sketches. 

1957 

June  24:  death  in  Puteaux. 

1958 

Large  retrospective  exhibition  at 
Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris  (156  works).  Creation  of  a  per- 
manent Salle  Kupka. 

1963 

Eugenie  Kupka  makes  large  donation 

to  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 

Paris. 

May  23:  death  of  Eugenie  Kupka. 


317 


SELECTED   EXHIBITIONS 


ONE-MAN  EXHIBITIONS 
1906 

Brno,  Frantisek  Kupka  (cat.  text  by 
J.  V.  Stejskal) 
Catalogue  not  located 

Prague,  Klub  "Slavia,"  April  15- 

May  17 

Kupkovy  Vystavy  [Kupka 

Exhibition] 

133  works 

19x1 

Paris,  Galerie  Povolozky,  June  6-20 
Fratifois  Kupka:  Peintures—Blancs  et 
Noirs  (cat.  text  by  A.  Mercereau) 
3  2  works 

1924 

Paris,  Galerie  la  Boetie,  October 

16-31 

Exposition  des  oeuvres  de  F.  Kupka 

(cat.  text  by  F.  Kupka) 

101  works 

1936 

Paris,  Musee  des  Ecoles  Etrangeres 

Contemporaines,  Jeu  de  Paume  des 

Tuileries,  June 

F.  Kupka-A.  Mucha  (Kupka  cat.  text 

by  G.  Kahn) 

95  works  by  Kupka 

1946 

Prague,  Narodnf  Galerie,  September 

17-November  17 

Kresby  A  Grafika  Frantiska  Kupky 

[Drawings  and  Prints  by  Frantisek 

Kupka]  (cat.  text  by  J.  Loris) 

77  works 

Prague,  Galerie  S.V.U.  Manes, 
November  14-December  8 
Frantisek  Kupka  (cat.  text  by 
K[upka]) 
213  works 


1951 

New  York,  Louis  Carre  Gallery, 
May  7-June  2 

Kupka  (cat.  text  by  J.  Cassou) 
16  oils 

1953 

New  York,  Rose  Fried  Gallery, 

February  23-March  21 

Kupka  (checklist) 

10  oils 

Paris,  Musee  des  Beaux  Arts  de  la 

Ville  de  Paris,  VIII  Salon  des  Realites 

Nouvelles:  Jubile  Kupka 

22  works 

Catalogue  not  located 

1958 

Paris,  Musee  National  d'Art 

Moderne,  May  27-July  13 

Kupka  (cat.  texts  by  J.  Cassou,  F. 

Kupka) 

72  oils,  4  gouaches 

i960 

Paris,  Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  May  24- 
June  30 

Kupka:  Gouaches,  Aquarelles,  Pastels 
(cat.  texts  by  M.  Brion,  G.  Habasque) 

5  oils,  49  watercolors  and  gouaches, 

6  pastels 

1961 

New  York,  Royal  S.  Marks  Gallery, 
January  n-February  18 
Kupka:  Paintings,  Pastels  and 
Gouaches  1909-1923  (cat.  text  by 
Y.  Hagen) 
30  works 

Zurich,  Galerie  Charles  Lienhard, 

March 

Frank  Kupka  (cat.  texts  by  J.  Cassou, 

F.  Kupka,  H.  Neuburg) 

40  gouaches,  5  pastels,  2  oils 

Pisek,  Czechoslovakia,  Vlastivedne 
Museum,  October-November  1961. 


Traveled  to  Ceske  Budejovice,  Czech- 
oslovakia, Dum  umeni,  January-    ■ 
February  1962 

Kupka  1871-1957  (cat.  texts  by  J. 
Kfi'z,  L.  Vachtova) 
30  oils,  105  works  on  paper 

1962 

New  York,  Saidenberg  Gallery, 
February  13-March  10 
Kupka:  pastels,  gouaches,  water- 
colors  (checklist) 

10  gouaches,  n  watercolors,  5  pas- 
tels, 4  watercolor  and  gouaches 

1964 

Paris,  Galerie  Louis  Carre,  May  21- 

July3i 

Kupka:  peintures  19 10-1946  (cata- 
logue; checklist) 
22  works 

Paris,  Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  May  26- 
June  30 

Kupka:  pastels  et  gouaches  lyoG- 
1945  (cat.  text  by  D.  Fedit;  checklist) 
57  gouaches,  23  pastels,  18  woodcuts, 
8  oils 

New  York,  Royal  S.  Marks  Gallery, 
September  21-October  24 
Kupka  (checklist) 
13  oils,  3  gouaches,  1  pastel 

London,  Gimpel  Fils,  September- 
October 

Kupka  Gouaches  1904-1945  (cat. 
texts  by  D.  Fedit,  C.  Gimpel) 
27  gouaches 

1965 

Prague,  Galerie  Karlovo  Namesti, 

May- June 

Frantisek  Kupka-obrazy,  kresby, 

grafika  [Frantisek  Kupka-Paintings, 

Drawings,  Graphics]  (cat.  text  by 

L.  Vachtova) 

29  works 


318 


Usti  nad  Orlici,  Frantisek  Kupka 
cat.  text  by  J.  Pecirka) 
Catalogue  not  located 

Milan  and  Rome,  Galleria  del 

Levante,  April-May 

Kupka  (cat.  text  by  G.  Veronesi) 

28  works  on  paper,  2  oils 

London,  Gimpel  Fils,  November  2-27 

Kupka:  The  Centre  Period  1899- 

1908  (cat.  text  by  S.  Williams) 

35  works  on  paper 

1966 

London,  Redfern  Gallery,  March 

2-26 

Kupka  (checklist) 

24  works  on  paper 

Paris,  Galerie  Karl  Flinker,  March 

18-April  23 

Kupka  avant  1914  (cat.  text  by  D. 

Fedit) 

9  oils,  44  gouaches,  pastels  and 

drawings 

Hanover,  Kestner  Gesellschaft,  July 

13-September  18 

Frank  Kupka  (cat.  text  by  W. 

Schmied) 

53  works  on  paper 

1967 

Stockholm,  Galerie  Aronowitsch, 
October  28-November  15 
Frank  Kupka  1871-1957  (cat.  text  by 
W.  Aronowitsch) 
17  gouaches,  2  drawings,  1  water- 
color 

1967-68 

Cologne,  Kolnischer  Kunstverein, 

April  15-June  25, 1967 

Frank  Kupka  1871-1957  (cat.  texts 

by  A.  Becker,  B.  Dorival,  T. 

Feldenkirchen) 

no  oils  and  works  on  paper 

Traveled  to 

Munich,  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  September  23-October 

22, 1967  (cat.  text  by  B.  Dorival) 

no  oils  and  works  on  paper 

Vienna,  Museum  des  20.  Jahrhun- 

derts,  November  4-December  17, 

1967  (cat.  text  by  B.  Dorival,  W. 

Hofmann) 

107  oils  and  works  on  paper 


Amsterdam,  Stedelijk  Museum, 
January  n-February  25, 1968 
(cat.  text  unsigned) 
104  oils  and  works  on  paper 

Prague,  Narodni  Galerie,  March  20- 
April  20, 1968  (cat.  texts  by  L. 
Vachtova,  J.  Kotalik,  B.  Dorival) 
322  oils  and  works  on  paper 

1968 

New  York,  Spencer  A.  Samuels  and 
Company,  Ltd.,  March-April 
Frank  Kupka  (cat.  texts  by  A.  H. 
Barr,  Jr.,  N.  Schwartz) 
17  oils,  43  works  on  paper 

1969 

New  York,  Gertrude  Stein  Gallery 

Belgrade,  Salon  Muzeja  savremene 
umetnosti,  June  12-July  20 
Frantisek  Kupka  (cat.  texts  by  J. 
Kotalik,  M.  B.  Protic) 
107  works 

SELECTED  GROUP  EXHIBITIONS 
1902 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  April  20-June  30, 
Societe  'Rationale  des  Beaux- Arts 
Xl!e  exposition 

Vienna,  Hagenbund 
Catalogue  not  located 

1904 

St.  Louis,  The  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition  Company,  Universal 
Exposition 

1906 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  October  6-N0- 
vember  15,  Salon  d' Automne:  ^me 
exposition 

1908 

Vienna,  Kunstschau,  May-October, 
Gebaude  der  Secession 

1910 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  October  1-N0- 
vember  8,  Salon  d' Automne:  8me 
exposition 

191 1 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  October  1-N0- 
vember  8,  Salon  d' Automne:  9me 
exposition 


1912 

Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  March  20-May 
16,  Artistes  Independants  z8e  exposi- 
tion: Salon  des  Independants 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  October  1-N0- 
vember  8,  Salon  d' Automne:  lome 
exposition 

Paris,  Galerie  la  Boetie,  October 
10-30,  Salon  de  la  Section  d'Or  (?) 

1913 

Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  March  19-May 
18,  Salon  des  Independants  (z9e 
exposition) 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  November  15, 
1913-January  5, 1914,  Salon  d' Au- 
tomne: nine  exposition 

1919 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  November  1- 
December  10,  Salon  d' Automne 

1920 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  October  15- 
December  12,  Salon  d' Automne 

1925 

Lille,  Au  Conservatoire,  December 
19-27,  Vouloir 

1926 

Paris,  Grand  Palais,  February  20- 
March  21,  Societe  des  Artistes 
Independants:  trente  ans  d'art  inde- 
pendant,  1884-1914 

Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  March  20-May 
2,  Salon  des  Independants  (37c 
exposition) 

192.9 

Paris,  October,  Expositions  selectes 
d'art  contemporain  (ESAC) 
Catalogue  not  located 

J934 

Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  February  2- 

March  11,  exposition;  Salon  des 

Independants 

1936 

Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  February  7- 
March  8,  Salon  des  Independants 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Art, 
March  2-April  19,  Cubism  and  Ab- 
stract Art 


319 


1937 

Paris,  Musee  du  Jeu  de  Paume,  July 

30-October  31,  Origines  et  de- 

veloppement  de  I' Art  international 

independant 

1939 

Prague,  Galerie  SVU  Manes 
Catalogue  not  located 

1947 

Paris,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts  de  la 
Ville  de  Paris,  July-August,  Salon  des 
Realites  Nonvelles  (lie  exposition) 

1948 

Paris,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts  de  la 
Ville  de  Paris,  Salon  des  Realites 
Nouvelles  (llle  exposition) 

1949 

Sao  Paulo,  Museu  de  Arte  Moderna, 
March  8-30,  Do  Figurativismo  ao 
Abstracionismo.  Traveled  to  Buenos 
Aires,  Instituto  de  Arte  Moderno 
Catalogue  not  located 

Art  Institute  of  Chicago,  October  20- 
December  18,  Arensberg  Collection 

Paris,  Galerie  Maeght,  April  29- 
June  3,  U 'Art  abstrait:  ses  origines, 
ses  premiers  maitres,  I,  Les  Rechercbes 
preliminaires;  II,  L'Epanonissement 
de  I' art  abstrait 

Paris,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts  de  la 
Ville  de  Paris,  July  22- August  30, 
Salon  des  Realites  Nouvelles  (lVe 
exposition) 

1950 

Prague,  The  School  of  Fine  Arts, 

Vystava  professoru  a  zaku  AVU 

[Exhibition  of  Professors  and 

Students] 

Catalogue  not  located 

Paris,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts  de  la 
Ville  de  Paris,  June  10-July  15,  Salon 
des  Realites  Nouvelles 

1952 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  May  6-June  8,  Recent 
Acquisitions 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  November  25, 1952-September 
13, 1954:  Paintings,  Sculpture  and 


Graphic  Art  from  the  Museum 
Collection 

1953 

Vienna,  Galerie  Wurthle,  May-June, 
Leger,  Gromaire,  Villon,  Kupka 
Catalogue  not  located 

Turin,  Palazzo  Belle  Arti,  September- 
October,  Pittori  d'oggi  Francia-ltalia 

1954 

Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  April  14-May  9, 

Salon  des  lndependants 

Paris,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts  de  la 
Ville  de  Paris,  July  8-August  8,  Salon 
des  Realites  Nouvelles 

Philadelphia  Museum  of  Art, 
October  16,  The  Louise  and  Walter 
Arensberg  Collection.  Opening  of 
permanent  installation  of  Arensberg 
Collection 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  October  19, 1954-February  6, 
1955,  XXVth  Anniversary  Exhibi- 
tions: Paintings 

1955 

Paris,  Musee  Galliera,  January  21- 

February  28,  Regards  sur  la  peinture 

contemporaine 

Lausanne,  Musee  Cantonal  des 
Beaux-Arts,  June  24-September  26, 
Le  Mouvement  dans  I' art 
contemporain 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  October  5, 1955-November  8, 
1957,  Painting,  Sculpture  and 
Graphic  Arts  from  the  Museum 
Collection 

1956 

Birmingham;  London,  Tate  Gallery, 
Autour  du  Cubism 
Catalogue  not  located 

Lille,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts  de  Lille, 
Peinture  contemporaine 
Catalogue  not  located 

Newark  Museum  Association,  April 
2-June  10,  Abstract  Art  from  1910  to 
Today 

1957 

Saint  Etienne,  Musee  d'Art  et 
d'Industrie,  Art  abstrait:  les  pre- 
mieres generations  (1910-1939) 


London,  Royal  Society  of  British 
Artists,  Arts  Council  of  Great  Britain, 
April  13-May  18,  An  Exhibition  of 
Painting  from  The  Musee  National 
d'Art  Moderne 

Amsterdam,  Stedelijk  Museum,  July 
8-September  30,  Europa  1907 

Sao  Paulo,  Museu  de  Arte  Moderna, 
September-December,  IV  Bienal  do 
Museu  de  Arte  Moderna 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  November  13, 1957-January  5, 

1958,  Recent  Acquisitions 

1958 

Paris,  Salon  des  Comparaisons 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  March  23 -April  7,  Paintitigs, 
Sculptures  and  Graphic  Arts  from 
the  Museum  Collection 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  October  6, 1958-October  25, 

1959,  second  floor  galleries 

1959 

Gottwaldov,  Czechoslovakia,  travel- 
ing exhibition 
Catalogue  not  located 

Edinburgh,  Royal  Scottish  Academy, 
August  21-September  20,  Master- 
pieces of  Czech  Art.  Traveled  to 
Leeds,  City  Art  Gallery,  October  4- 
November  1 

Liberec,  Czechoslovakia,  Krajesa 
galerie  Liberec.  Traveled  to  Prague. 
Catalogue  not  located 

New  York,  Rose  Fried  Gallery,  Octo- 
ber 26-November  30,  Twenty-four 
Modern  Masters 

i960 

New  York,  Galerie  Chalette,  March 
31-June  4,  Construction  and  Geom- 
etry in  Painting:  From  Malevitch  to 
"Tomorrow."  Traveled  to  Cincin- 
nati, Contemporary  Art  Center,  July 
5-October  9;  Arts  Club  of  Chicago, 
November  1  i-December  30;  Minne- 
apolis, Walker  Art  Center,  January 
14-February,  1961 

Cleveland  Museum  of  Art,  October 
5-November  13,  Paths  of  Abstract  Art 

Paris,  Musee  National  d'Art 
Moderne,  November  4, 1960-January 


320 


3, 1961,  Les  Sources  du  XXe  siecle: 
les  arts  en  Europe  de  1884  a  1914 

New  York,  Rose  Fried  Gallery, 
November  8-December,  Modem 
Masters 

1961 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  February  7-April  16, 
Paintings  from  the  Arensberg  and 
Gallatin  Collections  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Museum  of  Art 

Rennes,  Musee  des  Beaux-Arts, 

Mesure 

Catalogue  not  located 

1962 

Dobruska,  Czechoslovakia,  Vlasti- 

vedne  Muzeum 

Catalogue  not  located 

Vienna,  Museum  des  20.  Jahr- 
hunderts,  September  21-November  4, 
Kunst  von  1900  bis  heute 

1963 

Grenoble,  Musee  de  Peinture  et  de 
Sculpture,  June  19-August  31,  Albert 
Gleizes  et  tempete  dans  les  salons: 
1910-14 

New  York,  Royal  S.  Marks  Gallery, 
November  25-December  21,  Much 
has  Happened,  1910-1959:  Key 
Transitions 

Washington,  D.C.,  National  Gallery 
of  Art,  December  16, 1963-March  1, 

1964,  Paintings  from  The  Museum  of 
Modem  Art,  New  York 

1964 

New  York,  Sidney  Janis  Gallery, 
February  4-29,  The  Classic  Spirit  in 
the  20th  Century 

Florence,  Palazzo  Strozzi,  May-June, 
L'Espressionismo:  Pittura,  Scultura, 
Architettura 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  May  27, 1964-September  29, 

1965,  Painting  and  Sculpture  from  the 
Museum  Collections 

1965 

Lisbon,  Calouste  Gulbenkian  Mu- 
seum, Un  Seculo  de  Pintura  Francesa 
1850-1950 


New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  June  8  -December  3,  Painting 
and  Sculpture  from  the  Museum 
Collections 

New  York,  M.  Knoedler  &c  Co.,  Inc., 
October  12-November  6,  Synchron- 
ism and  Color  principles  in  American 
Painting:  1910-1930 

Houston,  The  Museum  of  Fine  Arts, 
October  20-December  8,  The  Heroic 
Years:  Paris  1908-19 14 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  December  3-29,  Painting  and 
Sculpture  from  the  Museum 
Collections 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  December  29,  1965-June  6, 1966, 
Painting  and  Sculpture  from  the 
Museum  Collection 


1966 

New  York,  Public  Education  Associa- 
tion, shown  at  M.  Knoedler  &C  Co., 
Inc.,  April  26-May  21,  Seven  Decades 
of  Modern  Art 

Hluboke,  Czechoslovakia,  Alsova 
Jihoceska  Galerie,  May-October 
1966,  Ceskd  Secese  Umeni  1900. 
Traveled  to  Brno,  Moraveska  Galerie, 
December  1966-January  1967 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  June  23-October  23, 
Gauguin  and  the  Decorative  Style 

Jerusalem,  Israel  Museum,  Summer 
1966,  Paintings  from  the  Collection 
of  Joseph  H.  Hazen.  Traveled  to 
Cambridge,  Fogg  Art  Museum, 
Harvard  University,  October  19-De- 
cember  1,  1967 

Los  Angeles,  The  Art  Galleries,  Uni- 
versity of  California  at  Los  Angeles, 
January-February  1967 
Berkeley,  University  Art  Museum, 
University  of  California,  February  21- 
March  19, 1967 

Museum  of  Fine  Arts  at  Houston, 
April-May  1967 

Honolulu  Academy  of  Arts,  June- 
August  1967 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  June  6, 1966-April  22, 1969, 
Painting  and  Sculpture  from  the 
Museum  Collections 


1967 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  May  4-June  25,  Selec- 
tions from  the  Museum  Collections 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  June  28-October  1, 
Museum  Collection;  Seven  Decades, 
A  Selection 

London,  Tate  Gallery,  September  15- 
October  27,  Cubist  Art  from  Czecho- 
slovakia 

Brussels,  Palais  des  Beaux-Arts, 
November  10-December  27, 1967,  he 
Cubisme  a  Prague  et  la  collection 
Kramdr.  Traveled  to  Rotterdam, 
Museum  Boymans-van  Beuningen, 
January  10-March  3, 1968 

1968 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  March  14-May  20,  Painting  and 
Sculpture  from  the  Museum  Collec- 
tions 

1969 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  April  23,  1969-December  14, 
1972,  Painting  and  Sculpture  from  the 
Museum  Collections 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  April  25-May  n, 
European  Paintings  from  the  Museum 
Collection 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  May  15-November  4,  Painting 
and  Sculpture  from  the  Museum 
Collections 

Rome,  Galleria  Nazionale  d'Arte 
Moderna,  May  17-June  15,  Arte 
Contemporanea  in  Cecoslovacchia 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  July  8-September  14, 
Selected  Sculpture  and  Works  on 
Paper 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  September  16-Octo- 
ber  12,  Collection:  From  the  Turn  of 
the  Century  to  19 14 

Toronto,  Art  Gallery  of  Ontario, 
November  1-26,  The  Sacred  and 
Profane  in  Symbolist  Art 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  November  5,  1969-November  8, 


321 


1972-5  Painting  and  Sculpture  from  the 
Museum  Collections 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  December  13, 1969- 
January  18, 1970,  Collection:  From 
the  First  to  the  Second  Word  War 
1915-1939 

Krefeld,  Galerie  Denise  Rene-Hans 
Meyer,  Masterpieces  of  Modern  Art 
Catalogue  not  located 

1970 

The  Cleveland  Museum  of  Art,  Janu- 
ary 28-February  22,  Year  in  Kevieiv 
for  1969 

Munich,  Haus  der  Kunst,  March  7- 
May  10,  L'Expressionnisme  europeen. 
Traveled  to  Paris,  Musee  National 
d'Art  Moderne,  May  26- July  27 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  May  i-September  13, 
Selections  from  the  Guggenheim 
Museum  Collection:  1900-1970 

Geneva,  Musee  Rath,  May  26-June 
28,  Art  tcheque  du  XXe  siecle. 
Traveled  to  Kunsthaus  Zurich, 
August  22-September  27, 
Tschechische  Kunst  des  20.  ]ahr- 
hunderts 

Buffalo,  The  Albright-Knox  Art 
Gallery,  September  15-November  1, 
1970,  Color  and  Field  1890-1970. 
Traveled  to  The  Dayton  Art  Institute, 
November  20, 1970- January  10, 
1971 ;  The  Cleveland  Museum  of  Art, 
February  4-March  28, 1971 

1971 

Turin,  Galleria  Civica  dArte 


Moderna,  March  18-May  9,  7/ 
Cavaliere  Azzurro:  Der  blaue  Reiter 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  June  11-September 
12,  Selections  from  the  Museum 
Collection  and  Recent  Acquisitions, 
1971 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  July  28-November  1,  Ways  of 
Looking 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  November  15-December  9, 
Fainting  and  Sculpture  from  the 
Museum  Collections 

San  Diego,  Fine  Arts  Gallery,  No- 
vember 20, 1971-January  2, 1972, 
Color  and  Form  1909-1914.  Traveled 
to  The  Oakland  Museum,  January 
25-March  5, 1972;  Seattle  Art 
Museum,  March  24-May  7, 1972 

1972 

Musee  de  la  Ville  de  Strasbourg, 
May  15-September  15,  Occident- 
Orient:  I' art  moderne  et  I' art 
islamique 

Venice,  Museo  Civico  Correr,  Alia 
Napoleonica,  June  n-October  1, 
"Capolavori  della  pittura  del  XX 
secolo  (1900-1945),"  36 Biennaledi 
Venezia:  Esposizione  internazionale 
d'arte 

Dallas  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  October 
7-November  19,  Geometric  Abstrac- 
tion: 1926-1942 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  October  18, 1972-January  7, 
1973,  Philadelphia  in  New  York:  90 
Modern  Works  from  the  Philadelphia 
Museum  of  Art 


New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  December  7, 1972- 
February  22, 1973,  Collection 
Exhibition 

New  York,  The  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  December  15, 1972-March  12, 
1973,  second  floor  galleries 

1973 

London,  Annely  Juda  Fine  Art  Ltd., 
July  5-September  22,  The  Non- 
Objective  World  1914-195  5.  Traveled 
to  University  Art  Museum,  University 
of  Texas  at  Austin,  October  14- 
December  15 

New  York,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggen- 
heim Museum,  August  9-September 
3,  Selections  from  the  Guggenheim 
Museum  Collection  and  Recent 
Acquisitions 

Stockholm,  Liljevalchs  Konsthall 
August  23-September  30,  Tjeckiskt 
avantgarde  1900-1939.  Traveled  to 
Goteborgs  Konstmuseum,  October 
20-November  18 

Milan,  Palazzo  Reale,  December 
1973-February  1974,  Boccioni  e  il  suo 
tempo 

1974 

Pittsburgh,  Carnegie  Institute  Mu- 
seum of  Art,  October  26, 1974- 
January  5, 1975,  Celebration 

1975 

Los  Angeles  County  Museum  of  Art, 
April  12-June  29,  A  Decade  of  Col- 
lecting, 1965-1975:  Tenth  Anniver- 
sary Exhibition 


322 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


f  works  not  located 


By  the  artist 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


This  list  includes  all  bibliophile  edi- 
tions illustrated  by  Kupka  and  the 
monumental  work  L'Homme  et  la 
terre.  Miscellaneous  illustrations  for 
Czech  authors  are  not  listed. 

Reclus,  Elisee,  L'Homme  et  la  terre, 
Paris,  Librairie  Universelle,  vols.  I-V, 
1905;  vol.  VI,  1908 
(prepared  c.  1904-08) 

Le  Cantique  des  cantiques,  French 
translation  and  introduction  by  Jean 
de  Bonnefon,  Paris,  Librairie  Univer- 
selle, 1905  (prepared  1903-05);  Paris, 
Librairie  Universelle,  1928  (prepared 
1905-09);  Paris,  G.  Kadar,  1931 

Leconte  de  Lisle,  Les  Erinnyes,  Paris, 
P.  Romagnol,  1908 
(prepared  1906-07) 

Aristophanes,  Lysistrata,  French 
translation  by  Dhuys,  Paris,  A. 
Blaizot,  191 1 
(prepared  1908-10) 

Aeschylus,  Prometheus,  French  trans- 
lation by  Dhuys,  Paris,  A.  Blaizot, 
1924 
(prepared  1908-10) 

Herold,  Ferdinand,  La  Guirlande 
d' Aphrodite,  Paris,  H.  Piazza,  1918 
(prepared  1917;  signed  Paul  Regnard) 

Bedier,  La  Chanson  de  Roland,  Paris, 

H.  Piazza,  1919 

(prepared  1917;  signed  Paul  Regnard) 

Kupka,  Frantisek,  Quatre  histoires  de 
blanc  et  noir,  Paris,  G.  Kadar,  1926 
(prepared  1925-26) 

Kupka,  Frantisek,  Abstrakce  Kreslil, 
introduction  by  J.  Loris,  Prague, 
Zikes,  1948 
(prepared  1930-32) 


BOOKS  AND  ARTICLES 

f["Credo  sous  un  arbre  jamais 
taille"],  Meister  der  Farbe,  V,  Leipzig, 
1913.  German  translation 

"(-"Initiative  officielle,"  Bulletin  artisti- 
que,  July  15, 1920 

"Creer!  Question  de  principe  dans  la 
peinture,"  La  Vie  des  lettres  et  des 
arts,  Paris,  July  1921,  pp.  569-575 

Tvoreni  v  umeni  vytvarnem,  Prague, 
1923 

"Raisons  de  l'evasion,"  Preface  to  ex- 
hibition catalogue,  Galerie  la  Boetie, 
Exposition  des  Oeuvres  de  F.  Kupka, 
Paris,  1924  [Reprinted  in  Realites 
Nouvelles,  no.  7,  July  1953,  p.  5] 

Untitled  preface,  M.  Baquet  ed., 
Album  "Quatre  histoires  de  blanc  et 
noir,"  1926 

"Reponse  a  l'enquete  sur  la  strategie," 
in  Georges  Turpin,  La  strategie  ar- 
tistique,  Paris,  1929,  pp.  163-164 

Untitled  text,  Abstraction,  creation, 
art  non-figuratif,  Paris,  vol.  1, 1932 
p.  23 

Untitled  text,  Abstraction,  creation, 
art  non-figuratif,  Paris,  vol.  2, 1933, 
p.  25 

Untitled  text,  Abstraction,  creation, 
art  non-figuratif,  Paris,  vol.  3, 1934, 
p.  28  [reprinted  in  Abstraction, 
creation,  art  non-figuratif,  vols.  1-5, 
1932-36,  New  York,  1968,  complete 
in  one  volume] 

fRationnalisme  en  peinture," 
Koh-i-Noor ,  Prague,  no.  41,  May 
1933, P- 15 

f'Frantisek  Kupka  v  Praze"  and 
editor's  preface,  Svetozor,  Prague, 
1934  [Reprinted  with  French  transla- 
tion as  "Kupka  o  sobe"  ("Kupka  par 
luimeme"),  Vytvarne  Umeni,  Prague, 
no.  7, 1968,  p.  352] 

Untitled  text,  Realites  Nouvelles, 
Paris,  no.  1, 1947,  p.  45 


Untitled  text,  Realites  Nouvelles, 
Paris,  no.  4,  1950,  p.  7 


INTERVIEWS 

fUrban,  B.  S.,  "Kupkuv  Orphismus," 
Cesta,  Prague,  no.  16,  January  28, 
1928 

fSisova,  M.,  "U.  Fr.  Kupka," 
Ndrodni  Listy,  Prague,  May  2, 1929 

Jira,  Jaroslav,  "Z  hovonis  Fran- 
tiskem  Kupkou,"  [Conversations 
with  Frantisek  Kupka]  Literdrni 
Rozhledy,  Prague,  vol.  XV,  no.  n, 
October-November,  1931,  pp.  354- 
358 

fMassat,  Rene,  "Visite  d'atelier  de 
Frank  Kupka,"  Le  Progres,  Paris, 
August  19, 1950 

On  the  artist 

MONOGRAPHS 

Amould-Gremilly,  Louis,  Frank 
Kupka,  Paris,  1922 
(First  published  as:  "De  POrphisme 
a  propos  des  tentatives  de  Kupka," 
La  Vie  des  lettres,  Paris,  1921) 

Cassou,  Jean  and  Fedit,  Denise, 
Kupka,  Paris,  1964 

Fedit,  Denise,  L'Oeuvre  de  Kupka, 
Paris,  1966 

Siblik,  Emmanuel,  Frantisek  Kupka, 
Prague,  1928  (in  Czech);  Prague, 
1929  (in  French) 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  Frank  Kupka, 
Pioneer  of  Abstract  Art,  New  York 
and  Toronto,  1968.  (Translated  from 
Czech,  Frantisek  Kupka,  Prague, 
1968,  by  Zdenek  Lederer.) 

ARTICLES 

fMachar,  J.  S.,  "Kupka,"  Rude 
kvety,  Prague,  V,  1905 


32-3 


Deverin,  Edouard,  "Francois 
Kupka,"  L 'Art  decoratif,  ne  annee, 
ze  semestre,  tome  XXI,  July  1909, 
pp.  3-14 

Weiner,  Richard,  "Navstevou  u 
noveho  Frantiska  Kupky,"  Samo- 
statnost,  Prague,  August  8, 19 12 
Reprinted  in  Vytvarne  Umeni,  vol. 
XV,  no.  8,  Prague,  1968,  pp.  367-371) 

Warshawsky,  W.,  "Orpheism,  Latest 
of  Painting  Cults,"  The  New  York 
Times,  New  York,  vol.  LXIII,  no.  20, 
357,  part  3,  October  19, 1913,  p.  4 

Gybal,  A.,  "Frank  Kupka,"  Les 
Hommes  du  jour,  June  1921,  pp. 
14-15 

Arnould-Gremilly,  Louis,  "De 
l'Orphisme  a  propos  des  tentatives 
de  Kupka,"  La  Vie  des  lettres, 
October  1921,  pp.  670-686 
fArnould-Gremilly,  Louis,  "Orfismus 
a  pokusy  Fr.  Kupky,"  Veraikon, 
Prague,  IX,  1923 

Solari,  Emile,  "Les  Arts,"  he  Pro- 
vencal de  Paris,  ue  annee,  2e  serie, 
no.  511,  November  2, 1924,  p.  1 

Chiselle,  Lucien,  "Le  peintre  F. 
Kupka,"  Idees,  deuxieme  annee,  no. 
12,  November-December  1924,  n.p. 

fGallien,  A.  P.,  "Le  Prince  du  reve," 
Gazette  des  Alpes,  December  1924 

Del  Marie,  Felix,  "Numero  special 
consacre  a  Franck  Kupka,"  Voidoir, 
Lille,  no.  12,  June  1925 

Bataille,  Maurice,  "Quatre  peintres 
constructeurs,"  Voidoir,  Lille,  no.  16, 
December  1925 

tjira,  Jaroslav,  "F.  Kupka,"  Kulturni 
Zpravodaj,  Prague,  no.  5,  1927 

fArnould-Gremilly,  Louis,  "A  propos 
de  'Quatre  histoires  de  blanc  et  noir,' 
par  Frank  Kupka,"  Signaux,  Feb- 
ruary-March 1928 

van  Doesburg,  Theo,  "Franche 
Schilderkunst,"  De  Groesse  Amster- 
dammer,  November  30, 1929 

f  Siblik,  Emmanuel,  "Malfr  Fr. 
Kupka,"  Aventinum,  Prague,  May  8, 
1930 

fMatejcek,  Antonin,  "Prometheus 
Frantiska  Kupky,"  Umeni,  Prague, 
III,  1930 


tSiblik,  Emmanuel,  "Frantisek 
Kupka,"  Hollar,  Prague,  vol.  7,  no.  2, 
1930-1931,  pp.  45-56 

tjira,  Jaroslav,  ["Frant.  Kupka  as 
Artist  and  as  Man,"]  Ndrodni  Osvo- 
bozeni,  Prague,  no.  261, 193 1 

f  Podesva,  E.,  "Frantisek  Kupka," 
Salon  6,  Prague,  193 1 

Turpin,  Georges,  "Kupka,"  in 
Edouard -Joseph,  Rene,  ed.,  Diction- 
naire  biographique  des  artistes 
contemporains,  1910-1930,  Paris, 
vol.  II,  1931,  pp.  284-288. 

fMatejcek,  Antonin,  K  sedesatinam 
Frantiska  Kupky,"  Umeni,  Prague, 
V,  1932 

Bill,  Max,  "Frank  Kupka:  zum  75. 
Geburtstag,"  Werk,  Winterthur,  33. 
Jahrgang,  Heft  9,  September  1946, 
pp.  106-107 

Degand,  Leon,  "Kupka,"  Art  d'au- 
jourd'hui,  Paris,  serie  3,  numero 
double  3  et  4,  February-March  1952, 
pp.  54-58 

Van  Gindertael,  Roger,  "Pour  aider 
a  rrrieux  comprendre  'Le  Passage  de 
la  ligne':  Documents  reunis  parR.  V. 
Gindertael,"  Art  d'aujourd'hui,  Paris, 
serie  3,  numero  6,  August  1952, 
pp.  18-19 

Mellquist,  Jerome,  "Kupka,"  Vogue, 
New  York, November  15, 1952, 
pp.  112-113 

Massat,  Rene,  untitled  text,  Realites 
nouvelles,  Paris,  no.  7,  July  1953,  p.  4 

Sibert,  C.  H.,  "Jubile  Francois 
Kupka,"  Arts,  spectacles,  Paris,  no. 
420,  July  17-23, 1953 

Bonnefoi,  Genevieve,  "Frank  Kupka: 
Precurseur  et  solitaire,"  Les  Lettres 
nouvelles,  Paris,  April  1954,  pp. 
591-598 

Lassaigne,  Jacques,  "Kupka,"  Revue 
de  la  pensee  francaise,  13  annee,  no. 
6,  June  1954 

Bauduin,  Nicolas,  "Les  temps  hero'i- 
ques,  a  propos  du  Salon  de  la  Section 
d'Or,"  Masques  et  Visages,  no.  39, 
June  1956,  pp.  6-7 
(Reprinted  in  Rolet,  May  25, 1957) 


Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "Frantisek 
Kupka,"  Tvar,  Prague,  no.  6-7, 1956, 
pp.  216-217 

Lonngren,  Lillian,  "Kupka:  Innova- 
tor of  the  Abstract  International 
Style,"  Art  News,  New  York,  vol.  56, 
no.  7,  November  1957,  pp.  44-47, 
54-56 

Cassou,  Jean,  "L'Oeuvre  de  Kupka," 
La  Revue  des  Arts,  Paris,  8e  annee, . 
no.  6, 1958,  pp.  285-287 

Chipp,  Herschel  B.,  "Orphism  and 
Color  Theory,"  Art  Bulletin,  New 
York,  vol.  XL,  no.  1,  March  1958, 
pp.  55-63 

Descargues,  Pierre,  "100  Kupka  au 
Musee  d'Art  Moderne,"  Les  Lettres 
francaises,  May  29, 1958,  p.  11 

f  Van  Gindertael,  Roger,  "Kupka," 
Les  Beaux-Arts,  Brussels,  June  6, 
1958 

f  Grenier,  Jean,  "Kupka  et  Part  ab- 
strait,"  Preuves,  August  1958 

fArnould-Gremilly,  Louis,  "Kupka, 
l'orphisme  et  Part  abstrait,"  Combat, 
Paris,  no.  6,  October  1958 

Ragon,  Michel,  "Rehabilitation  de 
Kupka,"  Cimaise,  Paris,  6e  serie,  no. 
1,  October-November  1958 

Veronesi,  Guilia,  "Frank  Kupka," 
Art  actuel  international,  Paris,  no.  5, 
1958, p-4 

Boullier,  Rene,  "Frank  Kupka," 
Chroniques  du  jour,  Paris,  nouvelle 
serie,  XXIe  annee,  no.  13,  Noel  1959 

"L'origine  du  mot  'tachisme'  revient 
a  Franck  Kupka,"  Art  actuel  inter- 
national, Paris,  1959 

Habasque,  Guy,  "Kupka,  trois  ans 
apres  sa  mort,  la  celebrite,"  Con- 
naissance  des  arts,  Paris,  no.  101, 
July  i960,  pp.  30-37 

Cassou,  Jean,  "Kupka:  a  l'origine  de 
la  peinture  non-figurative,"  La  Revue 
des  voyages,  Paris,  no.  38,  Autumn 
i960,  pp.  24-28 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "Frantisek 
Kupka,"  Kulturne  politicky  kalenddr, 
Prague,  1961,  pp.  258-259 


3i4 


fSmejkal,  F.,  "Vystava  Frantiska 

Kupky,"  Vytvarnd  prdce  14,  Prague, 

1931 

Petrova,  Eva,  "Vyvojove  etapy  dila 

Frantiska  Kupky,"  Umeni,  Prague, 

no.  6,  annee  X,  November  1962, 

pp.  597-601 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "Kupka,"  Dejiny 
a  soucasnost,  Prague,  vol.  V,  no.  8, 
1963,  pp.  22.-29 

Fedit,  Denise,  "Formation  de  Part  de 
Kupka,"  La  Revue  du  Louvre,  Paris, 
14c  annee,  no.  6, 1964,  pp.  333-342 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "La  Parabola  di 
Kupka,"  L'Europa  Letteraria,  Rome, 
vol.  V,  no.  29,  May  1964 

Guichard-Meili,  Jean,  "Kupka  se 
libere  dans  ses  pastels,"  Arts,  Lettres, 
Spectacles,  Musique,  Paris,  no.  966, 
June  10-16, 1964,  p.  11 

"Bright  Orpheus,"  Time,  vol.  84,  no. 
5,NewYork,July3i,  1964,  pp.  36-37 

Fedit,  Denise,  "Les  Gouaches  de 
Kupka,"  Quadrum,  Brussels,  vol. 
XVI,  1964,  pp.  27-34 

Cassou,  Jean,  "Kupka,"  Studio  Inter- 
national, London,  vol.  170,  no.  868, 
August  1965,  pp.  70-73 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "Kupkovy 
osudy,"  Vytvarne  umeni  Prague,  vol. 
XV,  no.  8, 1965,  pp.  372-379 

JMiler,  K.,  "Kupka  v  Praze," 
Vytvarnd  prdce  Prague,  br.  12/ XIII, 
1965 

fSpies,  Werner,  "Die  Biichse  der  Pan- 
dora. Der  Maler  Frank  Kupka  in 
neuer  Sicht,  Frankfurter  Allgemeine, 
May  3, 1966 

Czagan,  Friedrich,  "Frank  Kupka 
und  die  tschechische  Avantgarde," 
Werk,  Winterthur,  53.  Jg.,  no.  7, 
July  1966,  pp.  273-280 

"Nouvelles  de  l'A.I.C.A.:  le  colloque 
Kupka,"  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts, 
Paris,  vol.  72,  nos.  1 194/95/96, 
Supplement,  July-September  1968, 
pp.  26-27 

Kriz,  Jan,  "Frantisek  Kupka  a  pojem 
ceskeho  umeni,"  Vytvarne  umeni, 
Prague,  vol.  XVIII,  no.  7, 1968,  pp. 
354-356.  Includes  French  translation 
"Frantisek  Kupka  et  la  notion  de  Part 


tcheque" 

Solier,  Rene  de,  "Prostor  a  barva  u 
Kupky,"  Vytvarne  umini,  Prague, 
vol.  XVIII,  no.  7, 1968,  pp.  348-349. 
Includes  French  translation 
"L'Espace  et  la  couleur  chez  Kupka" 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "Kolokvium  o 
Frantisku  Kupkovi,"  Vytvarne 
umeni,  Prague,  vol.  XVIII,  no.  7, 
1968,  p.  338-339.  Includes  French 
translation  "Colloque  de  Frantisek 
Kupka" 

Berger,  Rene,  "Polarita  Kupkovy 
tvorby,"  Vytvarne  umeni,  Prague, 
vol.  XVIII,  no.  7, 1968,  pp.  349-350. 
Includes  French  translation  "Polarite 
de  l'oeuvre  de  Kupka" 

"Trying  to  see  in  the  abstract,"  The 
Times  Literary  Supplement,  London, 
May  8, 1969.  [Review  of  Ludmila 
Vachtova,  Frank  Kupka] 

Henning,  Edward  B.,  "Frank  Kupka: 
Amorpha,  Fugue  for  Two  Colors  II," 
The  Bulletin  of  the  Cleveland  Mu- 
seum of  Art,  Cleveland,  vol.  LVII, 
no.  4,  April  1970,  pp.  106-111 

Vachtova,  Ludmila,  "Kupka  1871- 
1971,"  Art  International,  Lugano, 
vol.  XVI,  no.  5,  May  20, 1972,  pp. 
17-21567 

GENERAL  BOOKS 

Thieme,  Ulrich  and  Becker,  Felix, 
Das  Allgemeine  Lexikon  der  bilden- 
den  Kuenstler,  XXII,  Leipzig,  1928 

Barr,  Alfred  PL,  Jr.,  Cubism  and  Ab- 
stract Art,  New  York,  1936 

Nebesky,  J.  V.,  L' Art  moderne 
tchecoslovaque,  Paris,  1937 

Seuphor,  Michel,  L' Art  abstrait,  ses 
origines,  ses  premiers  maitres,  Paris, 
1949  and  1950 

Raynal,  Maurice;  Lassaigne,  Jacques; 
Schmalenbach,  Werner;  Riidlinger, 
Arnold;  Bolliger,  Hans,  History  of 
Modern  Painting,  Vol.  Ill,  From 
Picasso  to  Surrealism,  Geneva,  1949- 
1950,  pp.  90, 121.  English  translation 
by  Douglas  Cooper 

Cogniat,  Raymond  and  Maillard, 
Robert,  eds.,  LAfssaigne],  J[acques], 
"Kupka,"  Dictionnaire  de  la  peinture 
moderne,  Paris,  1954,  pp.  143-144 


\Knaurs  Lexikon  moderner  Malerei, 
1955  and  1957 

Vollmer,  Hans,  ed.,  Allgemeines 
Lexikon  der  bildenden  Kiinstler  des 
XX.  Jahrhunderts,  Vol.  Ill,  Leipzig, 
1956,  p.  141 

Dorival,  Bernard,  Les  peintres  du 
XXe  siecle,  Paris,  1957  [Twentieth 
Century  Painters,  New  York,  1958. 
English  translation  by  W.  J.  Strachan 
and  A.  Rossi] 

Seuphor,  Michel,  Dictionnaire  de  la 
peinture  abstraite,  Paris,  1957  [Dic- 
tionary of  Abstract  Painting,  New 
York,  1957.  English  translation  by  L. 
Izod,  J.  Montague,  F.  Scarfe] 

Dorival,  Bernard,  L'Ecole  de  Paris  au 
Musee  National  d! Art  Moderne, 
Paris,  1961  [The  School  of  Paris  in 
The  Musee  National  d' Art  Moderne, 
New  York,  1962.  English  translation 
by  C.  Brookfield  and  E.  Hart] 

Cassou,  Jean;  Langui,  Emile;  Pevsner, 
Nikolaus,  Les  Sources  du  vingtieme 
siecle,  Paris,  1961 

Cabanne,  Pierre,  L'Epopee  du  cu- 
bisme,  Paris,  1963 

Maillard,  Robert,  ed.,  Lassaigne, 
Jacques,  "Kupka,"  Dictionnaire  uni- 
versel  de  I' art  et  des  artistes,  Tome  2, 
Paris,  1967,  pp.  338-339 

Hofmann,  Werner,  Turning  Points  in 
Twentieth  Century  Art,  1890-191J, 
New  York,  c.  1969.  English  transla- 
tion by  C.  Kessler 

Seuphor,  Michel,  L'art  abstrait,  1910- 
1918,  Origines  et  Premiers  maitres, 
Tome  1,  Paris,  1971 

Liberman,  Alexander,  The  Artist  in 
His  Studio,  New  York,  n.d. 


3M 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  CREDITS 


BLACK  AND  WHITES 

Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris:  Fig.  zA, 
p.  38 

Bildarchiv  der  Nationalbibliothek, 
Vienna:  Fig.  11,  p.  34 

Louis  Carre  et  Cie:  Fig.  iz,  p.  35 

Courtesy  Cinematheque  francaise,  Paris: 
Fig.  z,  p.  51,  fig.  6,  p.  56,  fig.  8,  p.  58, 
fig.  10,  p.  60,  fig.  1 2,  p.  6z,  fig.  13,  p.  63 

Geoffrey  Clements,  New  York:  Cat. 
nos.  72,  78, 109,  i8z 

Courtesy  Cleveland  Museum  of  Art: 
Cat.  no.  63 

Courtesy  Cliche  des  Musees  Nationaux, 
France:  Cat.  nos.  4,  9, 14,  zo,  zz,  Z4,  31, 
41)  47,  49,  5°"52->  57,  65,  66,  69,  74,  83, 
96,  izo,  135, 147, 148, 156, 184, 
187,189 
Fig.  7B,  p.  41 

Bevan  Davies:  Cat.  no.  101 

Courtesy  Lucy  Delmarle:  Fig.  11,  p.  313 

Jean  Dubout,  Paris:  Cat.  nos.  10,  iz,  16, 
18,  z8,  36,  37,  40,  54,  58,  93,  98, 107, 
no,  112, 113, 130, 157, 166 
Fig.  14,  p.  65 

eeva-inkeri,  New  York:  Cat.  nos.  124, 
145,163,188 

Photo  Ellebe,  Rouen:  Fig.  1,  p.  50,  fig.  4, 

P-53 

Thomas  Feist:  Cat.  no.  5 

Courtesy  Karl  Flinker:  Figs.,  pp.  136, 
141 

Courtesy  Gallien  Family:  Fig.,  p.  172 

Courtesy  Lucien  Goldschmidt,  Inc., 
New  York:  Fig.,  p.  95 

Courtesy  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Gribin: 
Cat.  nos.  137, 142 

Peter  A.  Juley  and  Son,  New  York: 
Cat.  nos.  180, 185 

Courtesy  Lilli  Lonngren:  Fig.,  p.  132 

Courtesy  Los  Angeles  County  Museum 
of  Art:  Cat.  no.  79 

Studio  Lourmel  77,  Paris:  Cat.  no.  136 


Courtesy  Andree  Martinel-Kupka: 
Frontispiece,  fig.  1,  p.  306,  figs.  2,  3,  p. 
307,  fig.  5,  p.  308,  figs.  6,  7,  p.  309,  figs. 
9, 10,  p.  312,  fig.  12,  p.  314,  p.  46,  fig., 
p.  12,  fig.,  p.  102,  fig.,  p.  224,  fig., 
p.  232,  fig.,  p.  327 

Robert  E.  Mates:  Cat.  no.  140 

Robert  E.  Mates  and  Mary  Donlon: 
Cat.  nos.  11, 15,  21,  35,  43,  48,  56,  60, 
62,  64,  67,  68,  76,  77,  81,  84-86, 100, 
104, 106, 114, 115, 119, 129, 131, 134, 
146, 152-155, 158, 159, 161, 162, 165, 
168-170, 186 

Fig.  3,  p.  17,  fig.  4,  p.  308,  fig.  6,  p.  19, 
fig.  8,  p.  310,  fig.  5B,  p.  41,  figs.  5C,  6C, 
p.  45,  fig.,  p.  Z40 

Robert  E.  Mates  and  Paul  Katz:  Cat. 
nos.  4Z,  116, 118, 138, 190 

Courtesy  Muzeum  Mesta,  Prague:  Fig. 
iA,p.  38 

Courtesy  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
New  York:  Cat.  no.  176 

Courtesy  Meda  Mladek:  Fig.  z,  p.  16, 
fig.  5,  p.  18,  fig.  7,  p.  zi,  figs.  iA,  iB,  p. 
4Z,  fig.  zB,  p.  43,  fig.,  p.  zo8,  fig.  14,  p.  36 

Courtesy  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York:  Cat.  nos.  Z3,  30,  3Z,  33,  45, 
53,55)  6l>  71,88-91,95 
Fig-  5,  P-  55,  %•  9,  P-  59,  fig-  ",  P-  61, 
fig.  3  A,  p.  38,  figs.  5  A,  p.  39,  figs.  iB,  2B, 
3B,  p.  40,  fig.  6B,  p.  41,  figs.  zC,  3C,  p. 
44,  fig.  4C,  p.  45,  fig.,  p.  119 

Andre  Morain,  Paris:  Cat.  nos.  102, 103, 

"7, 1 3  Vi  74 

Musee  du  Louvre:  Fig.  10,  p.  31 

Courtesy  Musee  National  des 
Techniques,  Paris:  Fig.  7,  p.  57,  fig., 
p.  92,  fig.,  p.  175 

Jifi  Mucha:  Fig.  14,  p.  315 

Courtesy  Narodni  Galerie,  Prague:  Cat. 
nos.  1-3,  6-8, 13, 15, 17, 19,  21,  25-27, 
34.  38,  39.  44.  80,  82,  92,  97, 108, 121, 
125, 139,  i4i)  144.  i49, 164, 167, 171, 
173)  175, 179 

Fig.  1,  p.  16,  fig.  4,  p.  18,  fig.  8,  p.  21, 
fig.  9a,  p.  z8,  fig.  9b,  p.  29,  fig.  4A,  p.  39, 
fig.  4B,  p.  40,  figs.  2A,  3A,  p.  42,  figs.  3B, 


4B,  p.  43,  fig.  iC,  p.  44,  fig.  13,  p.  36, 

fig.,  p.  169,  fig.,  p.  298 

Photo  Passet,  Paris:  Fig.  3,  p.  52 

Courtesy  Philadelphia  Museum  of  Art, 
Staff  Photographer,  A.  J.  Wyatt:  Cat. 
no.  75 

Photo  Studios  Ltd.,  London:  Cat. 
no.  127 

Courtesy  P.  P.,  Paris:  Fig.  7A,  p.  39, 
fig.  4A,  p.  42 

Eric  Pollitzer,  New  York:  Cat.  nos. 

177,183 

Fotostudio  Otto,  Vienna:  Cat.  no.  70 

Courtesy  Camille  Renault,  Paris:  Cat. 
no.  123 

Courtesy  Galerie  Denise  Rene,  Paris: 
Cat.  no.  94 

Rheinischer  Bildarchiv,  Cologne:  Cat. 
no.  izz 

Walter  Rosenblum,  New  York:  Cat. 
no.  in 

John  D.  Schiff,  New  York:  Cat.  nos. 
87,128,181 

Courtesy  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  E.  S. :  Cat. 
no.  178 

Courtesy  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Randall 
Shapiro:  Cat.  no.  143 

Taylor  and  Dull,  Inc.,  New  York  City: 
Fig.,  p.  Z48 

Frank  J.  Thomas:  Cat.  no.  iz6 
Sabine  Weiss:  Fig.  15,  p.  316,  fig.  16, 
P-3I7 


EKTACHROMES 

Studio  Lourmel  77,  Paris:  Cat.  no.  133 

Courtesy  Cliche  des  Musees  Nationaux, 
France:  Cat.  nos.  Z9,  46,  73 

Courtesy  Galerie  Karl  Flinker:  Cat. 

no.  17Z 

Robert  E.  Mates  and  Mary  Donlon: 
Cat.  nos.  59,  99, 105,  160 

Courtesy  P.  P.,  Paris:  Cat.  no.  150 


3z6 


Kupka  and  Jacques  Villon  behind 
Kupka's  house,  Puteaux,  c.  1952. 


32.7 


EXHIBITION  75/5 

3  500  copies  of  this  catalogue,  de- 
signed by  Malcolm  Grear  Designers, 
typeset  by  Dumar  Typesetting,  Inc. 
have  been  printed  by  The  Meriden 
Gravure  Company  in  October  1975 
for  the  Trustees  of  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Foundation. 


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